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Chairman Joins Roundtable on Building Sustainable Local Economies

GLENN DALE, Md. (Nov. 8, 2019) – Credit unions should be allowed to make the most of their resources to help small businesses and local economies grow and thrive, National Credit Union Administration Chairman Rodney E. Hood said today.

“Financial institutions like credit unions provide the oxygen small businesses need when they make investments through lending,” Chairman Hood said. “To do this, we need to bring fresh thinking to the table. How can we build a regulatory system that’s effective without being excessive? How can we stimulate more commercial lending to support more growth in the small business sector?”

Chairman Hood spoke to a small-business symposium, “Banking on Your Victory,” hosted by the Reid Temple AME Church, and he participated in a round-table discussion on local economic development. The text of the Chairman’s remarks is available online here.

Partnerships across the public and private sectors, business and non-profits, and religious and community organizations are powerful levers for community development, Hood said.

“I share the vision of community, of motivating one another to help one another,” he said. “Through the course of my career, which began as a missionary, I have believed that bringing people together to share resources, ideas, and talents is the best way to build strong, sustainable communities. Government entities can do plenty of things to help construct an environment that’s more conducive to growth, such as regulatory reforms, grants and loans, and creating opportunity zones.”

Listening to communities and hearing what they need, Hood said, is essential.

“The institutions we oversee have their fingers on the pulse of what works best in their communities,” he said. “So let’s give them the tools they need to do that.”