Photo by George Lochner/Matanuska Valley Federal Credit Union
Eight modern yet welcoming Community Offices (branches) that often include mileposts, fireplaces and hot coffee serve more than 33,000 MVFCU members. A ninth Community Office is soon to open at the new Palmer CARRS Safeway store.
have sold them to the secondary market,” Strawn said. “It’s allowed us to keep a continuous flow of capital available in our community for nonconforming real estate. I think it’s been very valuable to the Valley to have that source of capital.” Strawn added that the credit union has taken on some fixed-rate assets that it normally probably wouldn’t have because rates are so low. “But we’ve been able to offset it with changing our excess investments into more of adjustable-rate instruments to offset that risk,” he said. “It really was a demonstration of how valuable it is to have a local-based institution when those financial markets were in disarray.” Alaska USA, Matanuska Valley and all but one of the other credit unions in Alaska possess federal charters.
State-Chartered CU1
Credit Union 1 is the only credit union in the state that operates with a state charter. That change occurred in 1982, after Alaska School Employees Federal Credit Union converted to a state charter and became Frontier Alaska Credit Union. FedAlaska FCU then merged into Frontier Alaska in 1995 and the entity’s name changed to Credit Union 1. (North
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County Credit Union then merged into Credit Union 1 in 2004.) The Alaska Division of Banking and Securities regulates Credit Union 1’s operations. When CEO Leslie Ellis first went to work for Credit Union 1’s predecessor in 1983, the credit union had 18,000 members and $60 million in assets. Now, Credit Union 1 has 61,500 members, employs 265 people, projects $47.3 million in revenue for 2010, has $745 million in assets and operates 15 branches – including branches in Mountain View and West High School. The credit union will be moving its Nome office this year. “We’re expanding our Nome operations,” Ellis said. “We’ve outgrown the one we have.” Credit Union 1 acquired the Nome branch in late 2003, in a merger. It’s since doubled in membership, and the location is too small to support the business that occurs there, Ellis said. All credit unions in the state offer such things as online banking, debit and credit cards and other services, Ellis said. Credit Union 1 doesn’t delve into the commercial business line of services, she said, choosing instead to concentrate on serving consumers who have either no credit or banged-up credit.
“We provide some financial education to them,” Ellis said. “Our price point appeals to people because it’s generally lower cost and because we have products and particularly loan programs directed toward people who can’t get a loan elsewhere and we work with people on an individual basis, that attracts people to our credit union.” Ellis said all credit unions do some sort of social outreach, offering financial education and other community assistance. “What might set ours apart is we have made a concerted effort to work with that segment of the market and we have developed programs that are very specific with their intent to do that,” she said, adding that Credit Union 1 recently opened a branch in the previously “unbanked” community of Mountain View. “What people are looking for now is the safety and comfort of dealing with a local financial institution, people they know,” Ellis said. “Because of the economic uncertainty and the financial services meltdown, people are really looking to make sure that where they do business is safe, that they can rely on it. There’s a trust factor and this is turning people inward toward local q financial institutions.”
www.akbizmag.com • Alaska Business Monthly • March 2011