KANNAPOLIS, N.C. - Given the downsizing in textiles and manufacturing, it's hardly surprising North Carolina ranks high in having what might be the nation's poster credit unions for economic survival and social responsibility.

On both scores, there are a multitude of high achievers lately.

Take the $30 million Southern Select Credit Union of Kannapolis, for example, which captured CUNA's Dora Maxwell Award two years ago for aiding out-of-work employees at the now bankrupt Pillowtex Corp. which at the time represented the largest layoff in North Carolina history.

Despite such adversities as a 10,000 to 6,000 membership drop, an equally precipitous decline in loans and several years of losses, Southern Select has managed to hold on and succeed in 2006 "though it has been a major struggle," confided the CU's president/CEO Huyla Jackson.

And then there is the $19 million Carolina FCU of Cherryville, a former single sponsor CU which fell on hard times when its parent trucking company left town. But the CU has since regained its financial footing, doubled its SEGs and last month applied for its first underserved charter.

"I suppose you could say it has been gratifying and a challenge to help my credit union grow once again," declared Donna Beringer, the president and CEO, who left a branch manager's job at Navy FCU a year and a half ago to take the Carolina FCU post.

For years, Carolina FCU had been a "plain vanilla" institution, she said, with little or no marketing, no audio response or online banking and since her takeover has brought in those services, added overdraft protection and increased SEGs from 12 to more than 20.

Even timelier is the June 1 announcement by the $26 million School Workers Federal Credit Union of Charlotte to change its name as part of an expansion program encompassing seven North Carolina counties under a U.S. Treasury designation as a Community Development Financial Institution.

"We're right here in the shadows of Bank of America and Wachovia, but that hasn't stopped us in reaching out to the underserved," said Saundra Scales, president/CEO of School Workers, renamed First Legacy.

First Legacy's member base for 65 years has been employees of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System with its CDFI designation covering people of modest means in African-American communities.

Indicative of its expansion, First Legacy has pending with NCUA, an amendment to its charter to cover Mecklenburg County which includes metropolitan Charlotte. As a result of recent mergers, it already has FOM coverage for Rowan, Iredell, Cabarrus, Alexander, Catawba and Davie counties.

By changing the name and extending new services, the CU can still "showcase our rich heritage," said Scales

Like First Legacy, Carolina FCU, Southern Select and other small CUs, which have sought ways to expand, their moves have caught the attention of the state's media. Getting Noticed

Indeed, the Kinston Free Press gave featured coverage in April to a ribbon-cutting ceremony of the $13.6 million Carolina Family FCU, an ex-single sponsor which after several years of delay finally opened its second branch in downtown Kinston, miles away from a downsized Dupont Corp. polyester plant. The Free Press article quoted Brinda Turnage, manager of Carolina Family, on its decision to seek an August 2005 community charter as well as change its name from Dupont Federal CU, a development that came amidst continued layoffs at the plant, which was eventually sold to Unifi Corp. "We were quite pleased with the press coverage," said Turnage noting that the CU had not received that kind of attention before. "It was a great way to get the word out of what we do." In the article, Turnage traced the CU struggles of operating out of an office at the Dupont site, where hundreds of workers were laid off, but had now landed in a more convenient site. Carolina Family currently has 2,100 members, down from the 3,500 during the plant's heyday, but remains in good financial condition with loans on the rise and high traffic at the downtown location, said Turnage. "We will have to move at least one employee from the plant office to the new location and I think for the first time we'll have more employees downtown than we do out there,"said Turnage. Like its CU brethren elsewhere in the state, Carolina Family has also had to withstand losses, but now the CU is seeing the fruits of its charter change "and we're witnessing a base of loyal members."

At Southern Select of Kannapolis, managers underwent a similar struggle to withstand lost business and members when Pillowtex Corp., formerly Fieldcrest/Cannon, closed in July, 2003 laying off 4,000 in North Carolina and more than 1,500 in the area.

But Southern Select's problems began before that. In fact, the events of 9/11 took a toll on the North Carolina CU since the initial downsizing of Fieldcrest/Cannon was underway in Oct. 2001, the same month Southern had pre-planned a name change, community charter and a computer conversion.

"We were all dealing with shocks of 9/11, and so it was all very negative," recalled Jackson

Following the Pillowtex closing, the CU quickly provided financial education to displaced members as well as waived fees and deferred loan payments.

But, in addition, CU employees went to work arranging fundraisers to soften the blow for Pillowtex workers with the largest undertaking being a popular Community Yard Sale. That event in September 2003 raised more than $2,000, all of it going to Pillowtex families, said Jackson.

"The purpose of the event was to allow the public a central location for a sale, and vendors could keep the proceeds or donate them to the Cooperative Christian Ministry Relief Effort," said Jackson. "We involved local merchants, churches as well as the high school's National Honor Society members."

"The official mascot from the local single-A baseball team was there, and we had food, refreshments as well as games for the children," recalled Jackson.

On top of that, Southern Selected sponsored nearly a dozen other charity events in town ranging from blood drives to Christmas home tours, all of which figured in the decision by Dora Maxwell judges to pick Southern Select.

One noteworthy event included raising money for phone cards for the local U.S. Army National Guard units on their way to Iraq.

Today, said Jackson, Southern Select sees a brighter future with a high-tech research park being built on the now-demolished Pillowtex site and the prospect for many new members.

"I suppose you could say if there is one lesson we could pass on, it would be `don't give up'," Jackson concluded.

In acknowledging the problems of many small CUs in the state, the North Carolina Credit Union League said it has long been working to ease their plight adding however that the state has lost thousands of manufacturing jobs here in N.C. and that's put a lot of pressure on some credit unions.

"This development validates the wisdom of Congress expanding access to credit union membership in 1998. A lot of credit unions would have died out otherwise," said Dan Schline, senior vice president of association services.

"Bankers have spent a lot of money and time in an effort to present credit union growth in a negative light," said Dan Schline, senior vice president of association services.

"But if you look at how globalization has changed the economy in our state, you quickly realize that credit unions are having to reach out to new people in order to remain a viable choice for affordable financial services," said Schline. -jrubenscut@aol.com

Instant Insights /

Small North Carolina CUs Become `Poster' CUs for Social Good, Growth; Have Faced Down Tough Times and Won

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