JACKSONVILLE, N.C.– North Carolina Congressman Walter B. Jones, Jr. (R-NC3) and State Senator Harry Brown (R-Onslow) met with Marine FCU’s CEO Jeff Clark to discuss federal and state issues impacting credit unions and their members. CFO Todd Sammons, CIO Dawn Jones, CIO, and EVP Bob Dickerson, were also in attendance.
The visit was the first opportunity Congressman Jones and Senator Brown had to meet at Marine FCU with Mr. Clark, who assumed the role of CEO on January 1. Congressman Jones welcomed Mr. Clark to his new role and was excited to see his long-time friend, Mr. Dickerson, MajGen USMC (Ret.) who is on Marine FCU’s team serving North Carolina’s Marines and their families. He discussed the important role Marines play in North Carolina communities and the value of strong financial institutions to serve Marines’ families’ needs.
Evelyn Hawthorne, Carolinas Credit Union League’s director of governmental affairs, also attended the visit and thanked Congressman Jones for his stalwart support of credit unions. She mentioned that Congressman Jones co-sponsored nearly every bill in the current Congress that helped credit unions. Those bills would relax regulations aimed at big banks that spawned the 2008 financial crisis. Congressman Jones said that “Credit unions and community banks didn’t start that financial debacle. Wall Street did. It’s not right to punish credit unions’ customers for something credit unions weren’t a part of.” He reaffirmed his support of credit unions and asked Mr. Clark and Ms. Hawthorne to keep him informed of everything he could do to help the members that Marine FCU serves.
Senator Brown enthusiastically welcomed Mr. Clark to his new role, saying that “he was glad that his old friend was at the helm.” Senator Brown discussed a number of issues with the Marine FCU team, including the Special Session on Congressional Redistricting that convened February 18-19. Senator Brown also expressed his hope that the regular session that convenes on April 25 will be brief, allowing lawmakers to focus on budget issues only and leave businesses alone. He mentioned that the tax changes achieved in the prior two legislative sessions have helped businesses to devote more resources to expansion and new hires. “We need to let businesses grow jobs.”