By Frank J. Diekmann
Some notes from around credit unions I dug up from the bottom of a box of medical face masks:
Sounds Like They’re Real Fact-Checkers
The Miami Herald and McClatchy newspapers recently did some top-notch reporting on fraud related to the Paycheck Protection Program that found at least 75 companies that don’t appear to have existed prior to applying for PPP funds. You can get the details here; it’s not encouraging, and we can expect more to come.
In response, the SBA issued a statement to the Miami Herald defending its overall record, noting it successfully distributed 5.21 million loans and $525 billion to small businesses in an unprecedented amount of time…” The statement went on to say it had done so via the “Paycheck Payment Program.” That’s right. The SBA itself misstated what PPP stands for.
So why would anyone suspect anything less than crackerjack controls around who got the money?
I’m From the Government, And…
Speaking of government statements for which we can only say thank you so much for the guidance, I recently received a press release from the feds that informed—and this was a headline, no less—"Income losses can affect people's ability to pay regular monthly bills.”
You May Not Miss Him, But
You may not have noticed–and if you did you might have even uttered a “good riddance–but Keith Leggett has retired his Credit Union Watch blog. Leggett is the former executive vice president of the American Bankers Association who had long bird-dogged credit unions while he was with the association, and he didn’t retire from that part of the job even after he retired.
The blog shared Leggett’s opinions, research and other observations on any number of issues many credit unions would have preferred not see the light of the Internet, such as CEO salaries, “divides” between large and small CUs (despite the story line of a unified movement), field of membership questions, and more.
Like it or not, it would be a mistake to applaud the retirement of the blog. As the old saying goes, there is great benefit in being able to see ourselves as others see us. Or, as is the case with the ABA and its former executives, as others paint credit unions. And Leggett often got it right, giving credit unions the opportunity to get some things corrected before politicians or regulators opted to do the correcting for them.
Is Alexa Biased?
An ongoing accusation of the Googles and Amazons of the world is there is unconscious bias built into their algorithms. And perhaps it’s true, at least with Alexa, who may be a Democrat. It was recently pointed out to me if you ask Amazon’s Alexa who is the chairman of NCUA, she will give you the answer you see below. At other times, “she” will tell you it’s J. Mark McWatters (rather than Rodney Hood), who at least was chairman at one point.
Come Back to the Office? Umm, No
Is it only the “schmoozers" who are eager to get back to work? It could be
No one knows how long the various coronavirus-related lockdowns will remain in place, with many CU branches and offices shuttered. But what is known is there are a couple of great debates upcoming that every CU leader will need to be a part of, and the answers may determine the kinds of talent individual CUs are able to attract and retain.
According to a new Gallup poll, many Americans have started to develop an affinity for working from home, and hope to continue to be able to do so. While many workers have expressed frustration with stay-at-home orders and Zoom meetings, a large number are also saying they believe the good outweighs the bad when it comes to not having to go to the office, Gallup found.
“Employers have had to become agile in response to the pandemic,” said Gallup in releasing its findings.
“Three in five U.S. workers who have been doing their jobs from home during the coronavirus pandemic would prefer to continue to work remotely as much as possible, once public health restrictions are lifted,” Gallup said. “In contrast, 41% would prefer to return to their workplace or office to work, as they did before the crisis.”
Separately, the New York Times interviewed numerous people and noted that many expressed sadness and anxiety over returning to work, and not just due to fears over becoming sick from the coronavirus.
According to the Times, there is one group that is especially happy to remain at home.
“People who have never liked schmoozing with colleagues have found new heights of productivity away from meetings and office chitchat,” the Times noted.
Frank J. Diekmann is Cooperator in Chief of CUToday.info and can be reached at Frank@CUToday.info. Mr. Diekmann is also author of the new book, ‘501 Name Tags: Everything You Need to Know About Business Can be Learned at a Conference & Forgotten in the Trade Show.” For info: www.501nametags.com.