June 22 2009 Minutes

BANK ON YAKIMA Project Meeting
June 22, 2009

Present: Michelle Smith (CCU), Cecile Anson (CCU), Lindsay Jacobson (VISTA), Rosemary Rief (NW Harvest), Bill Stevens (AARP), Dave Gilbreath (CCCSYV), Bruce Tabb (Elmview), Michele Besso (NJP) and Paul Regimbal (CCU)

Purpose of meeting: To decide how to roll out “Bank on Yakima” to banks and credit unions in Yakima County.

Roll Out
The group agreed that a lunch-time meeting with United Way as the event host may help attendance. If this is not financially feasible for UW, Paul suggested some of the local financial institutions might help with underwriting. Written invitations with a short description of the project and facts will be sent to appropriate contacts at local banks and credit unions. Some personal calls from Dave and others may be necessary to get the right people to actually show up.

Michelle Smith volunteered to create a “quick facts” page to include in an invitation. This will illustrate the need for the initiative in our community. She will also talk to Lance Stephens about hosting the meeting.

After some discussion, all agreed to bring in speakers for the event. Suggested speakers include: Liz Myntti of Cowlitz, Rob McKenna, and Lynn Peters from DFI. Lindsay Jacobson volunteered to check with them regarding their availability in September (preferably Wednesday 9th, 16th or 23rd). She will also check with the local Chamber of Commerce to make sure there is no conflict with other business events.

There was some question about rolling out the projects to non-profits as well. This will be done after the Bank On Yakima model has been developed with the help of local financial institutions.

Survey
Bruce Tabb volunteered to collect the data from the surveys. Dave volunteered to send an email to other Yakima County Asset Coalition members in hopes of collecting at least 100 surveys by July 15, 2009. Hopefully we will have data to review at the next meeting and include in the roll-out material.
The next committee meeting will be Monday, July 20, 2009 at 3pm at CCU Conference Room.