Happy Birthday CUCollector! Seventeen Years… Where Did the Time Go?

Seventeen years ago on America’s birthday, I quietly launched a little website called CUCollector

Happy Birthday CUCollector! Seventeen Years… Where Did the Time Go?

Looking back, I’m not entirely sure I knew what I was getting myself into. At the time, there were no publications dedicated exclusively to credit union collections. The industry was changing rapidly, and I believed there was room for a publication that focused less on marketing and more on sharing news, ideas, and information that collection professionals could actually use.

What I never expected was that, seventeen years later, I’d still be doing it.

Over those years we’ve covered financial crises, regulatory changes, fraud trends, technological revolutions, court decisions, economic booms and busts, and just about every challenge the credit union collections profession has faced.

We’ve watched the industry evolve, celebrated its successes, mourned the loss of respected friends, and hopefully helped make sense of a few complicated issues along the way.

None of that would have been possible without you.

To our readers, thank you for allowing CUCollector to become part of your day.

Whether you’ve visited the site every morning for years or just recently discovered us, your support, emails, comments, and conversations have made the long hours worthwhile.

To our advertisers and sponsors, thank you for believing in what we do. Independent trade journalism only survives when companies see value in supporting it, and your partnership has allowed us to continue providing free industry news and commentary to thousands of professionals across the country.

People occasionally ask me why I still spend so many hours writing articles, chasing down stories, editing photos, and building websites after all these years.

The answer is simple.

I genuinely enjoy it.

Every story is a chance to learn something new. Every interview introduces me to another interesting person. Every article is an opportunity to contribute, in some small way, to an industry that has given me far more than I could ever repay.

As many of you know, my career in the recovery industry ended long ago, but my passion for the people who work in consumer finance, collections, and recovery never did. This industry is filled with hardworking professionals who rarely receive the recognition they deserve. If CUCollector has helped shine a light on their work, even a little, then these past seventeen years have been well worth the effort.

While CUCollector celebrates its 17th anniversary today, I’m equally grateful for the growth of its younger sister publication, CURepossession. Together, the two publications have allowed me to serve professionals in both the credit union collections and collateral recovery industries while exploring the many issues that connect them. It’s been an incredible journey, and one that I hope continues for many years to come.

As we celebrate Independence Day, we’re also celebrating another year of this publication’s journey. Seventeen years is a milestone I never imagined reaching, and I don’t take it for granted for a single moment.

Thank you for reading.

Thank you for sharing our stories.

Thank you for supporting our advertisers.

And most of all, thank you for allowing me to do something I truly love.

Here’s to the next chapter.

Happy Fourth of July!

Happy Birthday CUCollector! Seventeen Years… Where Did the Time Go? – Happy Birthday CUCollector! Seventeen Years… Where Did the Time Go? – Happy Birthday CUCollector! Seventeen Years… Where Did the Time Go?

Kevin Armstrong
Publisher

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