Chip Filson
| The story below is by a local El Paso reporter. It portrays a special credit union that served its community for four decades. Its work mattered.
The coop system is more than current assets and member numbers. We are also the experiences and memories that we pass down. This example raises the challenge today, who will remember our story? The Forgotten Credit Union that Served Thousands of Unbanked El Pasoans By Christian Bentancourt. Published April 9, 2023 by El Paso Matters and Next City
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In response to last week’s post on the impact of mergers on the future of the cooperative system, this former NCUA senior executive sent the following comment.
Mike Riley, December 1984
“Creative destruction” is uncomfortable to see in print. But it existed before Adam Smith, Malthus, Marx. Keynes, Schumpeter, and others began to try to explain the economic drivers and motivations that shape our world.
Cultural changes seem to be the main driver today. The personal seems to have switched to the impersonal, i.e. give me what I want on my terms with not much regard to others. Fast and low cost are the motivators. (disclaimer: I love Amazon.)
We have to deal with what we have. I am concerned about sound credit unions merging. When I was a new examiner, I had 30 -40 credit unions who were below $100,000 and none of the rest I had were over a million. And no, I did not start in 1934.
This was in the seventies. They were basically in small towns or in rural areas where there was a factory of some sort. As I visited them (most were happy to see me, albeit a regulator, to hear about the outside world), it was obvious that the Board and Committees were involved in the credit union. Their members and the Treasurer were most involved of all. They were making loans on washers, dryers, refrigerators. Most of their members had no real access to credit except at an exorbitant rate. No savings accounts available to the members.
The credit unions really cared about their members. I remember one credit union was trying to decide on whether to make used car loans. They wanted some advice from me. About 8 months later I came back and before I could start the exam they wanted me to go out and look at this used car and meet the borrower.
They were so proud of this accomplishment. (As a good regulator, I did check to see if the loan was to a Board member or family member.) It seemed to be a good loan. Not to get maudlin, but this shaped my views of what credit unions are. And fortunately, the larger credit unions were much the same.
After I moved on, I tried to keep track of these credit unions. Around 1990 I put together a list of where these credit union were. I couldn’t find a few; but a little other 20 had liquidated because the factory closed down or the key people left or retired. Another 30 or so had merged either voluntarily or involuntarily. About 6 were still alive and functioning. To be fair, at the same time the American economy was undergoing a major transformation and jobs and manufacturing were moving overseas.
This ongoing march continues. The merger of two sound credit unions without some legitimate reason doesn’t seem to be member oriented. I still think of the members of those small credit unions who received services such as buying a washer that no one else would do.
Bigger is not better if the member does not benefit. How many of these mergers produce lower loan rates , higher dividends, or distinctly better products at a lower price? Carried to the extreme we will be left with 20 credit unions that are no different than large banks.
Schumpeter opined “If someone wants to commit suicide, it is a good thing if a doctor is present.”
I recently received the best return ever on an investment: $250 in value for each $1 sent.
Late last year I read about a 501 C3 nonprofit (RPI Medical Debt) that bought unpayable medical debt using donations and then retiring all the acquired debt for consumers. Several news articles gave details about churches and local governments using this method to help members of their communities.
A December 20, 2022 New York Times’ article Erasing Medical Debt described how the program had extended to major cities such as Chicago and Pittsburgh. The story stated that 18% of Americans have medical debt turned over to a collection agency.
I decided to test the RPI Medical Debt’s concept. Was the payoff “leverage” as great as claimed? The 100 to 1 debt abolishment standard sounded too good to be true.
I also wanted to learn how targeted the program could be as a potential initiative for credit unions. Credit unions are significant originators of consumer debt. They know how past due delinquencies on a credit report can undermine anyone’s financial options.
Contacting RPI Medical Debt, I asked to purchase and cancel all debt from Jasper County IN, whose county seat is Rensselaer. Our family lived there for over five years while I was in high school. The town is primarily a farming community, neither wealthy nor poor, but one where the population today is the same as when we were there 60 years earlier.
Based on my pledge commitment, RPI retired all the available outstanding delinquent medical debt for 423 residents of Jasper Country totaling $264,878. They had no more access to debt available in the country right then, although more debt certainly exists.
However, with the funds remaining the non-;profit acquired debt from at least one resident in every Indiana county. The total consumers helped were 2,291 with over $2.532 millions of their debt erased.
RPI had acquired the debt for less than a penny on the dollar. The total accounts closed (not individuals served) was 4,396. Of these 9.3% (409) were bought directly from hospitals. The balance was from the secondary debt market.
Much of the debt (86%) was 5 to 10 years old– specifically 1,812 accounts with balances of $1.9 million. Only 1.8% of the debt was less than five years; 1.2% of the debt had originated over 20 or more years earlier.
The average debt extinguished had a face value of $846. For me, an overwhelming proof of concept! A financial “loaves and fishes” story.
Consumers cannot apply to RPI for relief. Rather the non-profit seeks to buy debt in the open market on behalf of funders who donate or make pledges to support their goal of abolishing medical debt for individuals and families burdened by the payments.
To qualify a “soft credit report” is run to determine each individual’s eligibility for relief. Potential portfolios are prescreened by holders to identify those who qualify for abolishment of debt. A person must earn less than four times the local poverty level (nationally an amount of $111,000 for a family of four) or have debt that exceeds 5% of annual income determined by pulling a soft credit report.
With these qualifications, the debt is excluded from income and not subject to IRS taxation. The transaction is considered an act of charity by donors who support RIP’s mission.
Each consumer is sent a letter announcing the relief. The total debt abolished, number of accounts and creditor are identified.
The “good news” letter says there are no strings attached and encloses a page of FAQs to answer questions. Recipients may, but are not required, to share their story about what this relief means to their circumstances.
This nonprofit was founded in 2014 with a threefold mission:
Since inception the firm has provided $8.5 billion of debt relief helping 5,493,000 individuals and families.
The immediate possibility is straight forward: strengthen members of their primary communities by offering to retire consumers medical debt. When fulfillment data are known, celebrate the relief impact. Invite consumers to learn more about another people-helping-people organization, the credit union.
Such an effort is a “win” on many levels: for the consumer, the credit union, the community and even medical providers with outstanding debt.
If interested contact RIP Medical Debt and make a pledge for a test project. I would be glad to share my contact and the reports and information I received. My project was completed in under 45 days from initial contact to finish.
As vital consumer lenders credit unions are at ringside knowing the debt burdens members carry.
Three days ago a Washington Post article reported the story of a 72year old still struggling to pay off his $5,000 student debt from the 1970’s. This is just one area where a similar approach for relief may be prudent and desirable. An example from the article reported:
Years of administrative failures and poorly designed programs have denied many borrowers an off-ramp from a perpetual cycle of debt.
There are nearly 47,000 people like Hamilton who have been in repayment on their federal student loans for at least 40 years, according to data obtained from the Education Department. . . About 82 percent of them are in default on their loans, meaning they haven’t made a voluntary payment in at least 270 days. . .
The Supreme Court will shortly hear a challenge to the Biden administration’s efforts to forgive up to $20,000 per borrower in federal student loans. The Court many not allow the initiative to proceed.
Why not design a program similar to RIP Medical Debt and approach the Department of Education about purchasing the loans with the intent of extinguishing them?
Credit unions would be helping resolve the financial and mental stress of longstanding student debt for eligible borrowers (to be defined). Even at a penny or two on the dollar, the government would be receiving more versus 100% forgiveness.
The program could be targeted where relief is most needed. It could happen fast. A “scholarship-in-reverse” plan where college debt continues to burden individual’s lives.
Can the cooperative movement demonstrate their collaborative entrepreneurial capacity and address a critical public need?
Two final data points from the Post article on student debt:
From the time student loan borrowers’ first loans enter repayment, the median length of time it takes to pay in full is 15½ years. . . Federal student loans are discharged upon death.
Must individuals wait till death for common sense relief?
Callahan’s Trend Watch industry analysis on February 15 was a very informative event. It was timely and comprehensive.
Here is the industry summary slide:
The numbers I believe most important in the presentation are the 3.4% share growth, the 20% on balance sheet loan growth and the ROA of .89.
The full 66 slide deck with the opening economic assessment and credit union case study can be found here.
A theme woven throughout the five-part financial analysis was tighter liquidity and the increased competition for savings. Slides documented the rising loan-to-share ratio, the drawdown of investments and cash, the increase of FHLB borrowings, and the continuing high level of loan originations, but lower secondary market sales.
These are all valid points. However liquidity constraints are rarely fatal. It most often just means slower than normal balance sheet growth. That is the intent of the Federal Reserve’s policy of raising rates.
I think the most important response to this tightening liquidity is slide no. 24 which shows the share composition of the industry. Core deposits of regular shares and share drafts are 58.3% of funding. When money market savings are added the total is 80%.
This local, consumer-based funding strategy is credit unions’ most important strategic advantage versus larger institutions. Those firms rely on wholesale funds, large commercial or municipal deposits and regularly move between funding options to maintain net interest margins. These firms are at the mercy of market rates because they lack local franchises.
In contrast, most credit unions have average core deposit lives from ALM modeling of over ten years. The rates paid on these relationship based deposits rise more slowly and shield institutions from the extreme impacts of rapid rate increases. In fact the industry’s net interest margin rose in the final quarter to 2.86% (slide 56) and is now higher than the average operating expense ratio.
Rates are likely to continue to rise. There will be competition at the margin for large balances especially as money market mutual funds are now paying 4.5% or more. If credit unions take care of their core members, they will take care of the credit union.
The NCUA Board had three topics: NCUSIF update, a proposed FOM rule change, and a new rule for reporting certain cyber incidents to NCUA within 72 hours of the event. The NCUSIF’s status affects every credit union so I will focus on that briefing.
We learned the fund set a new goal of holding at least $4.0 billion in overnights which it is projected to reach by summer. Currently that treasury account pays 4.6%. With several more Fed increases on the way the earnings on this $4.0 billion amount alone (20% of total investments) would potentially cover almost all of the fund’s 2023 operating expenses.
Hopefully this change presages a different approach to managing NCUSIF. Managing investments using weighted average maturity (WAM, currently 3.25 years) to meet all revenue needs, versus a static ladder approach, means results are not dependent on the vagaries of the market.
At the moment the NCUSIF portfolio shows a decline from book value of $1.7 billion. This will reduce future earnings versus current market rates until the fund’s investments mature, a process that could take over three years at current rate levels.
Other information that came out in the board’s dialogue with staff:
Both the Callahans Trend Watch industry report and NCUA’s insured fund update with the latest CAMELS distributions suggest a very stable, sound and well performing cooperative system.
Against this positive news, is a February 15 release from the Dakota Credit Union Association. It stated NCUA had denied claims of 28 North Dakota credit unions for their $13.8 million of US Central recoveries from their corporate’s PIC and MCA capital accounts.
These credit unions were the owners of Midwest Corporate which placed these member funds in the US Central’s equity accounts, a legal requirement for membership. The NCUA claimed that the owners of Midwest Corporate had no rightful claim, even though a claim certificate for these assets was provided by NCUA.
Nothing in this certificate says that the claim is no longer valid if a corporate voluntarily liquidates.
Under the corporate stabilization program corporate owners were forced to choose between recapitalizing after writing off millions in capital losses in 2009, merge with another corporate, or voluntarily liquidate.
Both the Iowa and Dakota corporates chose to voluntarily liquidate versus facing the prospect of further corporate capital calls.
The NCUA oversaw the liquidation of both Corporates in 2011. The NCUA’s liquidating agent knew that claim certificates were issued, that there was no wording that voluntary liquidation would negate future recoveries for the corporates’ owners and that NCUA’s legal obligation is to return recoveries to the credit union’s owners, whether in voluntary or involuntary liquidation.
The claim receipt specifically states: “No further action is required on your part to file or activate a liquidation claim.” Yet that is just the opposite of what NCUA is now saying the credit unions must do.
For example NCUA continues to pay recoveries to the owners of the four corporates who were conserved and involuntarily liquidated by the agency.
According to Dakota League President Olson, NCUA has failed even to inform the league in what accounts these funds are now held. Are they being distributed to all other US Central owners? To the NCUSIF? Or held in escrow?
“This is a clear case of obstruction through bureaucratic hurdles and complicated language where the process is the punishment, and does not provide justice,” stated Olson.
These funds ultimately belong to the member-owners of these credit unions The NCUSIF is in good shape. This is not a legal issue. It is common sense.
NCUA controlled all the options for every corporate through through its stabilization plan. It took total responsibility for returning funds-no further action required. No one will critique returning members’ money. But failure to do so undermines trust in the Board ‘s judgment, its leadership of staff, and its fiduciary responsibility for credit union member funds.
The NCUA board should do the “right thing” for these credit unions and their members.
On a recent trip I talked with a CEO to find out how the credit union was responding to four events: Covid, interest rate hikes, liquidity and the regulatory environment. Here are my notes.
CU still on hybrid work model. Employer sponsor went all remote, but is now back in person, with little remote. The community around the head office, especially retail shops, became a ghost town. Kept all branches open, but back office staff is still mostly remote.
Expect hybrid work to continue. Commute for head office is a minimum of 30-60 minutes. Labor market extremely tight especially for retail.
Have re-evaluated every customer facing position including salaries, variable incentives, paid lunches and increased job tiers.
The 30-year fixed rate mortgage is now at 7.5%. Member interest has evaporated and don’t see it coming back until late 2023. Increase in second mortgage demand.
Member spending is still strong and credit card volume has surpassed pre-pandemic levels. Will recession hurt consumer spending? Labor market great for employee, but creates inequities with current staff.
Biggest concern is inflation’s impact on costs and operating expense structure. Large increases in vendor contracts which have the ability to pass through costs based on a CPI index. In some cases this will be 8.5% to as high as 15%. Fortunately, we have caps in our contracts but many credit unions do not.
We are a unionized shop with approximately 70% of employees covered under a labor contract. Sponsor negotiates contract and we will have to see what happens to those costs.
Have difficulty selling to secondary market. Rates are extremely volatile day to day. Our mortgage pipeline is down 60%. Refinancing has all but stopped.
In ’20 and ’21 had share growth of 20% and 13%. Money stayed with us. This year members feel it’s time to spend. Grown only 2% in shares so far, but may end up flat at the end of the year.
Even though originations are lower, loans are staying on the balance sheet because there is no refinancing.
Paying up for CD’s: 11 month at 3.25% and 15 month at 3.5% with a minimum of $5,000.
Actively monitoring our wholesale funding sources. FHLB is about 100 basis points more expensive than CD’s. Also have brokered CD’s with SimpliCD.
So far this year ROA is at 80 basis points down from 92 bps in 2021. But for our 28 state peers over $500 million, the average is closer to 50 basis points.
Our top operational priority will be managing expenses.
State chartered. All exams remote. The beginning of the year I was really concerned about the NEV test that would put us in the extreme risk category. But they have backed off with just a “high” rating.
Definitely a different level of NEV risk now and more pressure on liquidity.
Looking past current events there are two items. Should we move beyond our sponsor’s brand and FOM to open up markets for further growth? We have several special loan programs, credit card and provide financial literacy events. Sponsor brand is ours as well. So not a simple issue.
Secondly, we have always been a state charter; would a federal charter be an option for the future?
However our biggest challenge going forward is to control operating costs.
One of the traditional advantages of credit unions is their local knowledge. This includes members’ circumstances, critical business trends in the area and continuing reinvestment to improve collective and individual opportunity.
As credit unions expand their market aspirations and growth ambitions, knowledge of and commitments to local communities can wane. The local knowledge and the resulting advantage of loyalty and member trust can be forfeited.
Next City is a nonprofit news organization that believes journalists have the power to amplify solutions and spread workable ideas from one city locale to the next.
It features actual projects. Case studies are the core of its reporting. It publishes an almost daily blog.
Here is a portion of the October 19 email update featuring mutual financial firms. It asks a critical strategic question about credit unions.
| While reporting a few years ago, I came across this startling fact: In 1986, the number of community banks across the country peaked at 15,717, but today there are fewer than 4,500.
Now I can’t remember the last time I went a whole day without thinking about it. I vaguely recall, as I’m sure many others do, the wave of bank mergers that really took the country by storm in the 1990s. Maybe some of those mergers made sense, given changes in technology and the world. But the rising tide of mergers went along with a drought in the formation of new banks and credit unions. I still don’t think we’ve fully processed what this shift in the banking system has meant for our cities and communities. Even today I don’t think we have a full picture of what was once possible, why it’s no longer possible, and maybe why we should make it possible again. I hope today’s story helps make that picture more complete, if not more clear. |
Banks With No Shareholders? The Curious Case Of Mutual BanksPonce Bank, founded in 1960 in the Bronx and currently New York’s only Latino community bank, shows the possibilities of lending as a mutual bank.
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Shouldn’t credit unions be in this reporting?
Seeing the flames on the news ravaging the New Mexico countryside and park forests is an unusual event for this scale of catastrophe. Sudden and destructive; no prior notice.
This brief update yesterday is from Denise Wymore, a coop evangelist:
“It’s been over a decade since New Mexico has experienced a major wildfire.
In June of 2011, a wildfire that would consume over 155,000 acres in New Mexico erupted. The Las Conchas Fire began around 1pm on June 26, when a gust of wind blew a 75 foot tall aspen into a power line. From that ridge top began the largest wildfire ever in New Mexico. During the first 14 hours, the fire raced eastward, consuming more than 43,000 acres (an acre per second) of forest and destroying dozens of homes.
Today a disaster of similar scope is occurring. The Calf Canyon and Hermit’s Peak fires have combined – burning over 60,000 acres in Northern New Mexico. Today it is only 12% contained with 817 personnel. The cause is unknown at this time.
The three employees of Rincones Presbyterian Credit Union, $5.45 million in assets providing financial services to almost 300 members, in and around Chacon, New Mexico had to evacuate its sole branch location yesterday.
Guadalupe Credit Union, founded in 1948 by Father Ed McCarthy to serve the parishioners of Guadalupe Church in Santa Fe, NM stepped up. They offered space for the staff of Rincones Presbyterian in their Taos and Las Vegas, NM locations.
This isn’t the first time credit unions in New Mexico have helped each other during wildfires. The Las Conchas Fire in 2011 caused the entire town of Los Alamos to evacuate for a week.
The Los Alamos School Employees Credit Union was able to “keep their doors open” with the help of Del Norte Credit Union in Santa Fe. Del Norte (DNCU) served the Los Alamos National Laboratory Employees. Matt Schmidt, Los Alamos School Employees CU CEO remembers his relocation at that time:
“Del Norte provided a conference room off the main lobby to setup our servers, computers and printers. Kim Currie with DNCU met me after hours to open the branch doors and help unload our office equipment. My dog, also an evacuee, watched from the truck. That moment personified the meaning of “credit union movement.” I felt supported and cared for in a time when the future was uncertain.”
To assist credit unions like Rincones maintain member service, contact Denise Wymore, Marketing Manger, Qcash Financial at 503-805-4424, or dwymore@qcashfinancial.com.
As long as there are credit unions, persons of incredible talent, generosity and conviction will be drawn to leadership roles. An example of this cooperative character is Marvel Eberhahn of Community Credit Union, New Rockford, North Dakota.
At her retirement celebration in December 2016 CU Today wrote a profile of her six-decade career as CEO.
Accompanying the story was an 8-minute video that shows the North Dakota setting and an extended interview with Eberhahn. The video captures her personality formed by the prairie farmland which the credit union served. The words demonstrate her spirit, practicality and love of community.
Her performance expectation for the credit union was straightforward: “If we can’t be different, why are we here.”
Watch the video. It provides examples for how she implemented this belief, from saving a WW II veteran from a bank’s equipment foreclosure to keeping farmland in the family.
When she left her CEO role, the credit union was $!66 million in assets, a 9,000% growth from the $18,000 when she assumed her role. Today Community is $192 million with three branches serving almost 5,000 members.
Here is the CU Today story, used with permission:
NEW ROCKFORD, N.D.–For the first time in 65 years, Community Credit Union here is preparing for a new CEO.
But before that happens, a new video shares Marvel Ebenhahn’s extraordinary history in credit unions, of days when the “credit union” was a filing cabinet, of difficult times trying to hold the family farm together, of tough times in a tough place, and through it all, of becoming an indispensable part of a community and overseeing 9,000% growth.
Ebenhahn will be retiring effective Jan. 1, 2017, after more than six decades on the job. Barb Messner, who is currently the CU’s operations manager, will take over as the second president in the credit union’s history.
Ebenhahn, however, is not fully retiring, and will be staying on at the credit union in an advisory capacity while also working as a loan officer with a less demanding schedule, which will allow her to spend more time at her retirement home in Arizona, according to the Credit Union Association of the Dakotas.
Few people in credit unions have ever overseen the kind of asset growth that Ebenhahn has seen during her career. When Ebenhahn joined the credit union, which serves rural Eddy County, N.D., it had $18,000 in assets and 250 members. Today it has $165 million in assets and nearly 6,000 members.
Founded in 1942, what was once operated out of a filing cabinet in the corner of a farm cooperative store now has three branches. Ebenhahn joined the CU in 1952 when it was known as Eddy County FCU.
“Marvel has been a mentor and inspiration for many credit union leaders throughout the decades here in North Dakota,” stated Jeff Olson, president/CEO of the Credit Union Association of the Dakotas (CUAD), in a statement. “Not only does she embody the cooperative spirit of putting members first, she really epitomizes our wonderful, traditional ‘small town’ rural values of faith, family, community, and hard work,” he continued.
Unique & Inspiring
To illustrate what it is calling a “unique and inspiring story,” the Credit Union Association of the Dakotas has created a short documentary video that records in Ebenhahn’s own voice, the evolution of the credit union and the community.
“I think’s a safe bet that there aren’t very many credit union CEOs anywhere today that can boast a 9,000% increase in assets or a 2,000% increase in membership in their career,” remarked Olson, who’s voice provided the narration on the video. “Nor can many match a span of 65 years of helping so many people in a small rural community.”
Marvel’s father was one of the original founders of the credit union, and she grew up with first-hand knowledge of the cooperative principals, the CUAD noted. Established in 1942, from its humble beginnings serving members of the Farmers Union Co-Op, the credit union evolved to a community charter so it could serve anyone who lived within a 50-mile radius of the town of New Rockford. In 1962, 10 years after Ebenhahn joined the CU, it had grown to the point of needing its own building.
“The credit union soon gained a reputation for helping people that the banks had refused,” said the CUAD. “‘Go see Marvel’ became a common phrase in the community.”
Serving a rural farming community can mean tough times, and as the video makes clear the credit union has also had to make tough decisions, especially during the 1980s when agricultural markets hit hard economic times.
In the video Ebenhahn shares that it’s “not fun” to take away a farmer’s land. She said the CU’s policy has always been in cases where it had to foreclose to attempt to find someone else in the farmer’s family who might be able to take it over in order to “keep the family farm together.”
But in all cases the credit union’s interests had to be protected she said. “You can’t just charge off a loan because you like a guy,” Ebenhahn says in the video.
Olson, a 10-year veteran employee and president of CUAD, said he has had the opportunity to visit with Ebenhahn on many occasions.
“I would love to drop in on her credit union just so I could listen to some of her many stories of how the credit union was able to help so many people over the years,” he said in a statement. “What is even more amazing is that she is making loans and doing business with grandchildren and great grandchildren of the people that first started the credit union. That’s why I thought it was important that we (CUAD) record Marvel so we could share her amazing story with today’s credit union leaders.”
The Ultimate Compliment
The CUAD reported several of its member credit unions have recently incorporated the video into their employee training programs – the ultimate compliment to Ebenhahn and her legacy.
“It’s amazing what people can do when they work together,” Ebenhahn says in the video. “I think I’ve been pretty lucky to have this job. To tell you the truth, I don’t think I’d want to do anything else. I’ve been blessed.”
“Last year, my wife and I wanted to do some refinancing by taking out a mortgage on our home to pay off a mortgage on one of our investment properties that had a higher interest rate. We went to a big local bank with which we have done business for 40 years, including a number of mortgages and home owner equity lines of credit.
“We applied as we have many times before. The bank kept asking us for more and more documents. After submitting 69 documents (some were updates of documents we submitted earlier), we gave up. We concluded that they simply did not want to lend to us.
“This was hard to fathom. Over the years, we have never missed a payment on any mortgage or loan. Also, the appraised value of our home, which would serve as security for the new mortgage, is nine times greater than the dollar amount of the requested mortgage. Our monthly income, from rentals and Social Security, is ten times the monthly payments that would be due on the mortgage.
“There shouldn’t have been any question about our ability to pay. Our best guess is that the bank did not want to loan to us because we are 65 and older, and retired, so we do not have salaries that can be garnished easily if we fail to make a monthly payment. In any event, we could not believe that they turned us down.
“The good news is that a mortgage broker suggested Honolulu Federal Credit Union (HOCU). The folks at HOCU welcomed us, asked for about a dozen documents, processed our application, and gave us the mortgage. It was smooth, quick, and friendly. We were grateful for the excellent service. We decided to open a couple of other accounts with HOCU as well. We have been happy with all of our interactions with HOCU during the past year. What a refreshing difference from that big, local bank!”
(March 18, 2022)
MEMBERS CELEBRATE IN HONOR OF UNITED STEELWORKERS LOCAL 310 FOUNDING
Affinity Credit Union celebrated 310 Day on March 16th and March 18th at the Firestone Tire plant in Des Moines, Iowa. This “310” day honors our founding members form USW Local 310. Firestone employees were greeted with dollar bills, marketing gifts and entered to win a $310 cash prize.
In 1949, a group of 10 Firestone workers founded Local 310 Credit Union by pooling their money together to make affordable loans for Firestone workers. The credit union charter members carried a few dollars in a lunch box between work shifts distributing $5 and $10 loans. If someone needed a loan, they would first collect deposits to fund the loan.
At the time, the founding group did not have any credit union members, had little money to lend, and no desk to consult with borrowers. Nevertheless, they persevered with a resource created by workers, for workers, that fed families, futures, and trust.
Today Local 310 Credit Union, now known as Affinity Credit Union, manages millions in financial assets, while helping 14,000 member-owners in central Iowa do more with the money they earn so they can live the life they want.
“On 310 Day we honor the Legends – the USW Local 310 founding members. From humble beginnings they demonstrated the meaning of People Helping People and our ongoing mission of Building Better Lives.” said Jim Dean CEO.
(March 2022)
Maine Harvest Loan Portfolio Now Over $1 million
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Borrower Spotlight
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| “The focal points of our China, Maine, home are the garden and the kitchen so when Maine Harvest Federal Credit Union opened it seemed only natural to put our money where our hearts and mouths were.
We have lived in China for the last 35 years, much of that time working at Fedco Seeds and getting to know the farmers and growers who can now benefit from MHFCU. Working at Fedco, volunteering at MOFGA, serving on its board and at the Common Ground Fair, and now putting our money to work at Maine Harvest, we think we’ve done a small part toward making Maine the way life should be.”
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“A place belongs forever to whoever claims it hardest, remembers it most obsessively, wrenches it from itself, shapes it, renders it, loves it so radically that he remakes it in his image.” Joan Didion
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Maurice Smith, CEO, LGEFCU: “What if credit unions could crack the code for sustainable, scalable wealth-creation for disenfranchised communities? It’s really anchored in the notion that we as credit unions should focus on the people who need us the most.”
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Linda Bodie CEO of Element FCU as reported by Denise Wymore:
Bodie: “I can offer a lot more products, services and solutions even though I’m small. There’s no reason to sit back and not do something because of your size. Size doesn’t matter … not when you have the power of a cooperative system.”
Denise: Here are the three things your credit union can learn from the team at Element FCU:
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Notre Dame FCU President/CEO Tom Gryp: “Our ability to pay above-market wages to our incredible partners (employees) is a direct reflection of the loyalty and support of our members. My deepest thanks go out to our growing membership base, who without their ever-increasing utilization of our services, none of this would be possible.”
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Jared Brock, self described author, PBS documentarian, and cell-free futurist podcaster; a “free market” sceptic on “what we desperately need right now:”
Invest in your community — IE, start a family business, co-operative, community-owned company, not-for-profit, for-benefit, or partnership with one or more competent entrepreneurs with complementary skillsets such as:
The reality is that we need a generation to build companies that give instead of take, that contribute instead of extract, that cement communal stability instead of undermining its foundations.
I sometimes wish we could get rid of grow-forever corporations and move forward solely with local/regional companies and partnerships and co-ops and for-benefits.
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In The Speechwriter (2015), Barton Swaim remarks that South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, whom he worked for, “knew bad writing when he saw it, except when he was the author.”
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Weekend listening, 5 minutes. Ancin Cooley, credit union consultant: “give someone else a shot at leadership before merging.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUWkTZe-sgg
