Cooperative Center Federal Credit Union

Annual Report 2019

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New Branch Coming in 2021 Last November, after a multi-year process that began in 2017, we closed on the sale of the property at 2001 Ashby Avenue in Berkeley. While the credit union will continue to serve our members at the current location until our new branch office is ready, the property is now owned by Resources for Community Development (RCD). RCD is a local non-profit affordable housing developer that intends to construct 80 units of 100% affordable housing on the site, with ground floor retail space for up to two local non-profits. When the Board began considering the sale of the Ashby property, we had three goals in mind: first, securing the fiscal health of the credit union well into the future; expanding our reach in keeping with the migration patterns of our membership; and being a part of the solution to the lack of affordable housing in the Bay Area, specifically in Berkeley. As a Community Development Financial Institution, we analyzed where we were seeing new member growth and recognized the burden gentrification was having on members as we tracked their moves further into both West and East Counties. During the lengthy Request for Proposal process, the Board selected RCD as the buyer for our real estate holdings. RCD's track record as an affordable housing developer and its commitment to using the site to build 100% affordable housing, which is so desperately needed in South Berkeley, played a substantial role in our decision. Last year, the credit union collaborated with RCD to gather input from the neighborhoods surrounding the credit union on the design of the new building. Several of our members also actively supported RCD in their successful pursuit of funding from the City of Berkeley to support the planned housing development. The housing development at this site will be named after the legendary South Berkeley community leader and civil rights activist Maudelle Shirek, who was one of the first employees of Cooperative Center Federal Credit Union before her decades- long service as a Berkeley City Council Member. After evaluating dozens of potential site locations, we are able to announce our new branch will be located at 3015 San Pablo Avenue, on the corner of Ashby and San Pablo. One of the considerations for this location was the close proximity (roughly one mile) to the existing branch. We expect to move into this new location in the first quarter of 2021. Information on exact dates will be announced to the membership as we draw closer to the move. We are currently in the process of selecting a second location for our headquarters and lending center. This will allow us to better serve many of our members who reside along the I-80 corridor in Contra Costa County. Need to Borrow Money? Cooperative Center Has Highly Competitive Rates and Terms on Loans. New technology implemented in 2018 – 2019 has allowed us to streamline our lending processes and has improved response time and productivity. Those improvements and the expansion of our loan products and services have allowed us to increase new loans to members over the past several years. While we've had many loyal depositors for many years, a financially healthy credit union has a good balance of member deposits and loans, and we've identified the need to continue growth in this area. In the past year, we've demonstrated great momentum, funding $1 million or more in member loans per month. This represents a nearly 300% increase in loan origination since 2012. As we continue to grow and build on this momentum, we are grateful to our loan department for their outstanding work. We hope all of our members will consider Cooperative Center their primary financial institution, which includes borrowing from your credit union for major life purchases and events. The credit union offers competitive rates on a variety of loan products, and we are continually developing products and services designed to meet each individual member at their point of need. A couple examples are our Payday Loan alternative (the Emergency Cash Infusion Loan) and our Payday Loan Consolidation Program. The program was designed as a way to directly replace the predatory nature of payday lenders while helping members improve their financial health. As we grow our loan department, our goal is to become our membership's most trusted lender. Get Involved There are numerous volunteer opportunities for our members who would like to be of service to the credit union. We have openings on our Supervisory Committee and Membership Education Committee, and the Board of Directors is accepting application packages for an appointed vacancy to be filled in the second quarter of 2020. Please contact board@coopfcu.org or rredo@coopfcu.org for more information. Please be looking for additional information and announcements in our Spring Newsletter and upcoming email alerts. We know you have choices when it comes to a financial institution; we thank you for your continued membership. At your service, Shyaam Shabaka Chair, Board of Directors Fadhila Holman CEO AGENDA: SEVENTY-EIGHTH ANNUAL MEETING Thursday, April 30, 2020 | 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. I. Call to Order at 6:30 p.m. II. Roll Call III. Annual Meeting Minutes IV. Annual Meeting Reports Board Chairman Treasurer Supervisory Committee Nominating Committee V. Adjourn Due to the extraordinary circumstances resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, the format of the Annual Meeting has changed. Our strict social distancing guidelines make it unsafe to host members in the lobby. As a result, the meeting will be virtual, with no in-person gathering at the credit union. A Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) document will be available in hardcopy and online on the website after the meeting. Those who have RSVP'd by April 24, 2020, will be provided call-in and/or login instructions. Joint Board Chair and CEO Annual Report to Members This past year at the Cooperative Center Federal Credit Union, we have made great progress toward our goals of strengthening our financial health, improving services for our members, and being part of the solution to the housing affordability crisis in our community. We are grateful to our staff and to our all-volunteer Board of Directors, Supervisory Committee, and other committees for their dedication and service to our members.

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