Northwoods shuffles board

Northwoods Credit Union's board of directors recently appointed Jeff Kletscher as its new board chairperson. Kletscher has served on the Northwoods Credit Union board since the 2018 merger with Floodwood Area Credit Union. Prior to that, he served on the Floodwood Area Credit Union supervisory committee for many years.

Kletscher is a licensed real estate broker and owner of Northland Woods-n-Water Realty in Floodwood. He also works for Hope Lutheran Church as the church administrator. In the past, Kletscher served on the city council for the City of Floodwood for 10 years, and then as mayor for 16 years. Recent local and regional participation includes being president of the Floodwood Business Community Partnership and chair of the AEOA board of directors, and serving on the Toivola Meadowlands development board and the ISD 698 community education advisory committee. He's the festival coordinator for the Sax-Zim Bog Winter Birding Festival and a certified ATV and firearm safety instructor.

At the state level, Kletscher was recently board secretary and past president of the Minnesota Association of Small Cities, and served a two-year term on the board of directors for the League of Minnesota Cities. Since 2017, Kletscher has served as a member of the citizens commission and project team for Courageous Conversations, a series exploring Minnesota's aging workforce at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey School of Public Affairs.

Debbie Larson stepped down as board chairperson and will continue to serve on the board as a director.

Nathan Manner joined the Northwoods CU board as a director after serving for over a year as an associate director. Manner joined the board as an associate director after the merger with Floodwood Area Credit Union, after having served many years on the Floodwood Area Credit Union board.

Manner was raised in Floodwood, where he returned after he married in 2006. After 14 years in construction, he made the jump back into the family business, Floodwood Farm & Feed, in 2014. As a lifelong credit union member, he believes that Northwoods Credit Union is a vital part of the communities it serves.

Northwoods president/CEO Doug Wolf said the two board members bring a lot to the board.

"It's great to have representation and [credit union] experience from our Floodwood area," Wolf said. "I would like to thank Debbie Larson for her leadership and guidance during her time as our chairperson, and we look forward to her continuing to serve as a director."

Also serving on Northwoods CU's board of directors are Christine Nielsen-Ringat, secretary; Ann Dunaiski, treasurer; Lisa Follett Pollak, director; and Larry Champeaux, vice chairperson.

Nielsen-Ringat and Dunaiski were re-elected at the annual meeting in March to serve three-year terms.

Northwoods Credit Union opened in 1936 and now serves more than 10,000 members in Carlton, Pine and St. Louis counties. Branch offices are located in Cloquet, Floodwood and Moose Lake. For more information, visit http://www.northwoodscu.org.