Washington Advocates Turn Up the Heat in Olympia

Posted by Alyse Knudsen on February 19, 2025

Temperatures were in the low 20s when Washington credit unions arrived in Olympia for Washington Credit Union Day at the Capitol on Feb. 11. That didn’t matter to the nearly 230 advocates who came from credit unions from every corner of the state; in fact, so many came from the Vancouver area that the Southwest WA Chapter of Credit Unions rented a tour bus to bring everyone together.

“Many legislators deeply understand the value of credit unions,” said Joe Adamack, GoWest Credit Union Association’s SVP, Legislative Affairs, adding there are many opportunities to tell the credit union story to the new legislators.

Advocates in the Washington State Capitol. Photo by David Crawford, TwinStar Credit Union

To help them share that story, advocates had newly released economic data from Oxford Economics on hand. Jennifer Wagner, GoWest’s EVP and Chief Advocacy Officer, shared the newly released economic data from Oxford Economics with advocates to help them share the story. “Advocacy isn’t a one day a year activity,” Wagner reminded the group. “We need to continually share this data with legislators.”

When Wagner said that 5.5 million Washingtonians – the legislators’ constituents – are credit union members, the advocates cheered. She went on to share more data, including credit unions’ $4 billion impact on the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the 27,200 jobs credit union employment supports.“We need to shout it this from the rooftops,” she exclaimed.

Before heading to the capitol campus, GoWest leaders also talked about community impacts such as loans to first-time homebuyers and partnerships between credit unions and the GoWest Foundation which are helping to build affordable housing.

“Stand tall and tell your story strong,” encouraged Troy Stang, GoWest’s President and CEO.

That’s exactly what they did!

Posted in Advocacy, Advocacy News, GoWest Association, Top Headlines, Washington.