Being approved for a car loan or a mortgage is always greatnews, but a loan for a xylophone or a movie camera is almostunheard of. Or is it?

The $1. 5 million NoteWorthy Credit Union located in Clevelandserves the arts and entertainment community,  and itsspecializes in providing loans for musical instruments and otherartistic endeavors. The credit union's president, Henry Peyrebrune,is a Cleveland Orchestra bassist and NoteWorthy is located in thelobby of a refurbished warehouse built in 1907, called the TowerPress Building, which houses not only the credit union, butartists' lofts and a café bursting with colorful art.

NoteWorthy, which has about 500 members, is situated in thecenter of Cleveland's arts and cultural communities. Musician andcredit union member Kyra Kester, an active performer and teacher onboth flute and piccolo, loves to come in and socialize with theother musicians, artists and credit union manager Kathy Klimko.

“I come in and make a deposit and just hang out sometimes,” saidKester, who has been a NoteWorthy member since 2010. “The Clevelandmusic world is very tight-knit, and this is a great place tonetwork.”

Peyrebrune explained that NoteWorthy was founded in 1960 as theLocal 4 Musicians' Credit Union. In 1996, it broadened membershipto include the wider musical community and changed the name toNoteWorthy Federal Credit Union. In 2006, it began expandingmembership to include people from the entire spectrum of northeastOhio's arts and entertainment community.

”We know a lot of people in the arts don't make a lot of moneyor they don't have income coming in on a weekly basis, but we'vefound that they are usually very motivated people,” Peyrebrunesaid. “In our research, we've found that most people in the artsare excluded from getting loans from other institutions for theirinstruments. We're not like that.”

Since 2010, NoteWorthy has offered the creative arts projectloan program, which offers loans of up to $50,000 to artists of allkinds who need capital for the tools and materials of theirparticular disciplines, from documentary filmmaking and hip-hopdance to country music and graphic novels.

It seems that the art community has discovered this creativecredit union. Loan growth is at 63.62% of assets, up from lastSeptember's 3.44%.

Klimko is not an artist, but she is a 30- year veteran of creditunions and is proud of the credit union's membership.

“We really have a unique field of membership, “ she said. “TheCleveland Orchestra, the Cleveland Pops, Akron and Cantonsymphonies are just some of the many people we are serving. We'vestarted serving other musicians throughout the U.S. as word hastraveled many circuits. I feel credit unions are like a family, andwe all try to help one another.”