HIGHTSTOWN, N.J. — Executives with the New Jersey Credit Union League, the state banking department and a local community action partnership have been meeting to discuss the founding of the first state chartered credit union in the state in the last 10 years.
The local community group, the Tri-County Community Action Partnership, headquartered in Bridgetown, has approached the League for help in establishing the credit union, according to League vice president James Merrill.
Tri-County is a nonprofit group with the mission of providing services that improve the quality of life and promote self-sufficiency to residents of Gloucester, Salem and Cumberland counties.
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"We felt the logical step would be to facilitate a meeting with the state Department of Banking," said Merrill. Working with League General Counsel Robbie Thompson, they set up a meeting between Tri-County and the state banking department.
According to Tri-County CEO Albert Kelly, the group was interested in chartering a community development credit union in order to offer financial services to recipients of Tri-County programs.
"Providing financial products and services, as a compliment to our existing financial literacy programs, could help improve the quality of life for many people in our community," said Kelly, who participated in the talks. "The League and Department of Banking were extremely supportive in helping us understand the process involved in chartering a new credit union in New Jersey," added Kelly.
Among the issues discussed in the three-way talks were the chartering process and topics related to starting a new
credit union.
Also participating in the discussion were New Jersey Department of Banking staff Dave Weikert, Thomas Hunt, Bill Blunt and John Pavlovsky. Other participants from Tri-County were CFO Edward Bethea, Freda Jones, and
Tim Behr.
"I am extremely happy with the outcome of the meeting and appreciative of the time and information provided by
the New Jersey Department
of Banking," NJCUL's
Merrill said.
"Tri-County Community Action Partnership is committed to pursuing a credit union charter," says Edward Bethea, CFO of Tri-County.
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