By Kent Hartzler, CEO Mennonite Financial FCU

Mennonite Financial FCU uses both credit union and Mennonite means of networking to grow an institution based on long-established practices of mutual aid.

Mennonite Financial traces its roots to 1955, when it began under sponsorship by the Mennonite Publishing House of Scottdale, Pa. It expanded its FOM to Mennonites in Pennsylvania, then merged with other Mennonite credit unions in Ohio and Illinois. Mennonite Financial is now a 10,000-member; $82-million credit union operating out of Lancaster, Pa. Kent Hartzler has worked at Mennonite Financial for 10 years and been its CEO for a little more than a year.

Explain your FOM.

KH: Mennonite Financial is a faith-based credit union and also something of a contradiction. We serve a niche market that is located across all 50 states, with our charter being single common bond by association – we have no geographic boundary but serve any person in the Anabaptist community. This community is made up of Mennonites, Amish, Brethren in Christ, and related Anabaptist groups.

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Interview with Tony Mook, CEO, Cumorah Credit Union

Cumorah Credit Union is state chartered in Nevada for members of the Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormons). Begun in 1965, it has a new headquarters in Henderson, just outside Las Vegas; it has $185 million in assets, eight branches and 15,000 members. Cumorah CU takes its name from the name of the hill in central New York where in the 1820s Joseph Smith received the revelation that inspired the founding of the Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS). Cumorah CU is privately insured; it participates in the FSCC shared branch network and the COOP ATM network. Tony Mook worked at two credit unions before being hired as the CEO for Cumorah in 1990. He serves on the Nevada Credit Union League Board, has been its chairman, and serves on the American Share Insurance Board.

Do you feel there is a difference working in a faith-based credit union?

TM: I’ve worked 29 years in credit unions, including American First in Ogden, Utah, and Golden West, one basically for government employees and the other initially for railroad employees. I’ve worked at Cumorah for 17 years. It’s clear to me that the core beliefs of the membership make a significant difference in the operation of each credit union. Here’s an example. We recently finished a new headquarters building and could lease space downstairs. A wellknown coffee retailer offered to pay a premium for the space, but we turned it down owing to conflicts with our religious beliefs.

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By Marsha King, President and CEO, Liberty of Congress FCU, Hyattsville, Md.

Our credit union was chartered in 1935 as a single sponsor: Library of Congress employees and has remained that way until the mid 1990s, when we merged a small and nearby credit union into us converting our charter to a multiple occupational. We still, at present, have only one operational branch in the Library of Congress Madison Building with our administrative and back office located in nearby Maryland.

I have been with the credit union for 16 years, during which it has grown from $32 million to $144 million currently serving 10,600 members. During this time, our management supported our core membership; The Library of Congress (LOC) and their strategies which included adding contractors and SEGs from LOC into our field of membership. We found this difficult for two reasons: contractors came and went before we had the opportunity to sign them up and obtaining a current list from LOC was not always possible.

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