by Bea Peterson
On August 24 the Hoosick Federal Credit Union will celebrate is 60th Anniversary with a party at the Armory from 3 to 7 pm. Everyone is invited for food, music, door prizes and giveaways. “It’s our way of thanking the community for allowing us to serve the area for 60 great years,” said Credit Union President Jim Martinez.
[private]Wood Flong Credit Union
The Credit Union began in 1953 in the Wood Flong plant and was for the benefit of Wood Flong employees only. The members of the first Board of Directors were Frank A. Davock, Thornton Hall, Joseph C. Marcoux, James McIntyre, Joseph E. Miller, Lester D. Quinlan and Arthur D. Taylor.
In 1975 the Credit Union moved to a small one room office on Main Street. When its charter changed to include “persons who reside or work in the Town of Hoosick” the business moved into the adjoining building on Main Street next to the Post Office. It was located there until it moved to new expanded space in the Thorpe Building on Church Street. Operations Manager Patty Post remembers the old spaces. Her mother, Jane Vogler, worked in the small office. In 1980 Post began working with her mother in the larger site. “We did all the posting by hand,” she recalled. When the business got its first computer everything was still handwritten and, at the end of the day, was keypunched into the computer. One of the nicest things Post recalls is the families that opened savings accounts for their newborns.
History Of Credit Unions
According to the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), credit unions have provided financial services to its members in the United States for more than 100 years. “Credit unions are unique depository institutions created not for profit but to serve their members as credit cooperatives.” Each member of a Credit Union has one vote regardless of the size of the member’s deposits. The Credit Union is volunteer based and has a member-elected Board of Directors.
The earliest financial cooperatives date back to 19th century England. A few decades later, credit unions took root in Germany. Organized by Herman Schulze-Delitzsch and Friedrich Raiffeisen, these early credit unions became the model for today’s credit unions in the United States. The crop failure and famine of 1846 caused Schulze-Delitzsch to organize a cooperatively owned mill and bakery that sold bread to its members at substantial savings. Schulze-Delitzsch took this cooperative notion to address the needs of credit, too. In 1850, he organized the first cooperative credit society, known as the people’s bank. Raiffeisen sought to provide credit to farmers. He formed the Heddesorf Credit Union in 1864 to help German farmers purchase livestock, equipment, seeds and other farming needs.
At the start of the 20th century, the credit union concept crossed the Atlantic to Levis, Quebec where Alphonse Desjardins organized La Caisse Populaire de Levis. A court reporter, Desjardins became aware of loan sharks charging outrageous interest. In response, he organized this first credit union in North America to provide affordable credit to working class families. Nearly a decade later, Desjardins helped a group of Franco-American Catholics in Manchester, New Hampshire, organize St. Mary’s Cooperative Credit Association. This first credit union in the United States opened its doors in 1909.
As a result of the efforts of Edward Filene, a merchant and philanthropist, and Pierre Jay, the Massachusetts Banking Commissioner, the Massachusetts Credit Union Act became law April 15, 1909. The Massachusetts law served as a basis for subsequent state credit union laws and the Federal Credit Union Act, which became law 25 years later.
During the 1920s, the U.S. credit union movement became increasingly popular. Families had more money to save and could afford products like automobiles and washing machines. They, however, needed a source of inexpensive credit to purchase these goods. The popularity of credit unions grew because commercial banks and savings institutions generally showed limited interest in offering such consumer loans.
Name Change
In 1977 the Wood Flong Credit Union became the Hoosick Federal Credit Union and in 1987 it merged with Simco Employees Federal Credit Union. At the same time the charter and bylaws were amended to include employees of the Eagle Bridge Machine and Tool, Inc. who worked in Hoosick or Eagle Bridge.
In 2001 The charter and bylaws were again amended to include “persons who live, work, worship or attend school in, and businesses and other legal entities in the Town of Hoosick.”
In 2007 the Falls Federal Credit Union merged with the Hoosick Federal Credit Union.
Services now include mortgages as well as savings and loans. Martinez has been with the Credit Union for 13 years and in the banking business for a total of 27 years. What he appreciates the most about the Credit Union is the trust the members have in it. “We don’t need credit scores to determine if someone needs a loan,” he said. “There are better ways to determine someone’s ability to pay.” He abhors the charging of higher interest rates to someone with a low credit score. “They’re already having problems meeting their obligations, how does charging a higher rate help?” Loan rates are the same across the board at the Credit Union. He added that he has seen cases of people who file bankruptcy continuing to pay off his or her Credit Union loan “because they don’t want to let us down.”
Another benefit of the Credit Union, he said, is the ability to approve a loan quickly, many times in the same day. “We don’t have to check with ‘headquarters.’ We are the headquarters.”
Over 100 Years Experience
Besides the long service of Post and Martinez, Member Service Representative Cindy Maxon has been with the Credit Union for 10 years and in banking for 26 years. Credit Union Service Team member Judy Flynn worked for the Falls Federal Credit Union for ten years and has continued at Hoosick Federal for six years. Joellen Stevens has been a friendly face at HFCU for six years and Jan Abbott for five. The newest member of the team is Compliance/Business Development Officer Rosemarie Smith who has been with the Credit Union for one year.
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