The $2.2. million Thurston Union of Low Income People Credit Union, headquartered in Olympia, Wash., is celebrating a $75,000 loan from the U.S. Treasury's Community Development Financial Capital Initiative.
CDCI is an initiative administered by its Community Development Financial Institutions Fund with the help of bank and credit union regulators. Credit unions that receive the loans, which came from Troubled Asset Relief Program funds, have to be recognized as CDFIs and found to be "viable" by their regulator.
TULIP is the third credit union to announce having received the funds. Nationwide, so far, 24 credit unions have received the loans which can be used as secondary capital in the community development credit unions, according to the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions.
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TULIP's leadership celebrated the loan in particular since its receipt recognized the credit union's continued viability after a period in 2008 when its capital ratio fell to very low levels.
"This is a big deal for a credit union whose capital reached as low as 2%," said Scott Butterfield, CEO, Credit Union Strategic Planning, who volunteered to help the board with strategic planning.
Chartered in 2003 as the only new CU chartered in Washington State since 1980, TULIP has one full-time manager and one part-time member service staff member, the CU said.
"We work to provide our members a hand up, not a hand out. In order to do that for as many people as possible, we recognized the importance of focusing on sustainability," said Eric Bowman, board chair at TULIP.
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