National Commentary.

I would like to start my year as Chairman talking to yon about membership, and what it means to me.

Webster's Dictionary defines membership as a noun meaning "the state of being, a member", "members collectively, as of an organization". To take it a step further, and paraphrase from Webster's definition, a member is "a distinct part of a whole", "belonging to some association, community, party, etc."

I like that ... "distinct part of a whole". That says to me that there are two elements in the concept of membership: one is the member, and the second is the "whole" or in the case of NACM--a group of affiliated associations that make up one large national organization. We can't have one without the other.

Since the beginning of time, people have come together, whether as a trade group, political coalition, medieval guild, cooperative, or as a credit association to promote a common interest or goal. As you know, NACM was founded 108 years ago by a group of credit executives to promote honest, sound and fair credit practices throughout the United States. Since that time, NACM has expanded to become an association with global reach. We now include in our membership NACM-Canada, NACM-Mexico, an affiliate in Puerto Rico and--through FCIB--we have offices in London, England and member companies across the world. However, our goal to promote honest, sound and fair credit practices has not changed.

In 2002 NACM-National adopted the marketing theme "Strength in Numbers". But it is more than just a marketing theme: it is a statement of our philosophy--there is strength in numbers.The whole of our membership gives our association the strength to accomplish great things--the strength to push credit-related initiatives through Congress, the strength to "brand" NACM as the premier credit association throughout the world and the strength to bring global recognition to professional credit designations, among other initiatives.

For me, first and foremost, NACM is a business resource that I turn to for products, services and education. I encourage you to learn more about how your association can help you. Discover bow the Asset Protection Group can prevent your organization from making (just) one mistake that could end up costing thousands of dollars, or how the Government Business Group call alert you to regulation changes that, ...