SIOUX FALLS, S.D.– A ribbon cutting and open house was held to officially open the new Credit Union Association of the Dakotas office here. CUAD staff, including President/CEO Jeff Olson, VP of Government Affairs Jay Kruse, VP of Compliance Amy Kleinschmit, and VP of Communications & Awareness Katie Dressler, along with representatives from the Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce were on location.
The new office, which is an expansion of the Bismarck, N.D. office, marks a return to Sioux Falls after the South Dakota Credit Union League merged with the North Dakota League in 2007 and relocated to Bismarck.
“Re-establishing a physical presence in South Dakota has been a priority for the Association since 2010 when we changed our name from Mid-America Credit Union Association to the Credit Union Association of the Dakotas,” said Olson.
In 2012, at the height of the “Don’t Tax My Credit Union” movement, CUAD established an office in Pierre, S.D. that served as an advocacy headquarters in order to better reach South Dakota legislators. With the new office in Sioux Falls, the advocacy work has been moved and the Pierre location has been closed.
The amount of credit union activity in terms of members and assets is growing at a healthy rate in South Dakota, especially in and around the Sioux Falls area. “With a jump in membership of nearly nine percent in the last five years, the Sioux Falls area is definitely a place where we want to continue our focus of creating credit union awareness and promoting the credit union alternative to consumers in the state,” Olson concluded.