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By Nathan Peck | MiBiz
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KALAMAZOO — As Consumers Credit Union president Kit Snyder closed the books on 2009, 2010 was already looking to be a good year. What he sees thus far has done little to dissuade him from his optimistic outlook.

The 59-year-old credit union boasts more than $325 million in assets, and Snyder said he sees opportunities as West Michigan residents and business owners look for safer bets in traditionally conservative institutions such as credit unions. Consumers employs 140 at 13 locations around West Michigan. While expansion plans have slowed, there are opportunities for continued growth in 2010, Snyder told MiBiz.

MiBiz: How did Consumers Credit Union handle the uncertainty of 2009, and how is 2010 looking?

Snyder: We started out the year with learning right away that we were in the worst economic situation in 30 years. Right away, we had a lot of opportunities as stocks lost a great deal of their value. People were looking for safer places to put their money. We weathered the storm with extraordinary success.

We experienced 14-percent asset growth, resulting in a cumulative growth rate of 20 percent for 26 consecutive years. Our earnings stayed strong as we earned $3.3 million, despite having to pay an assessment into the NCUA insurance fund for the first time in our history. We reached the $300 million milestone this year. It took us 51 years to get our first $100 million in assets. Our last $100 million took two years. We remained focused on staying local and growing our resources locally. We don’t sit still; we built a good company through controlled growth, not blind ambition.

We are excited to expand into downtown Kalamazoo this spring, at 125 South Burdick Street. This will be our 13th full-service location. We’ll also relocate our Cambridge office to a convenient new location on Portage Road. And we’ll break ground for a new office in Holland moving from an in-store location at Meijer to a freestanding site.

MiBiz: What particular strategies did you employ to weather the economic crisis?

Snyder: We counted every penny and slowed our expansion plans — with strategies in place to carefully manage capital. We have vacant property in Mattawan and Three Rivers, (but) I want to see more retail moving into the area before we make a move.

It is an interesting time, and I’m working to ensure that no experience is wasted. In challenging times, we have really defined ourselves. We can adapt and adjust. We currently service all of our mortgage loans, closing $61 million in 2009 — while selling $40 million to investors, and retaining $20 million in our portfolio. With low interest rates, we work to reduce the number of mortgages to assets in our portfolio.

As our members come to us needing help with payment deferrals, and since they’re owners, they pay us first. It has helped to keep our losses down. We’ve helped over 1,000 members stay in their homes.

MiBiz: Are there regulatory pressures you’ve had to deal with as a result of the rise in bank failures in 2009?

Snyder: I feel that we have been bruised by unexpected external influences, such as increased regulation, insurance premiums, credit card changes — though every financial institution is in the same situation. Credit unions are paying the price even though it was other credit card and subprime companies that had extremely high rates and hidden anti-consumer terms. We are currently working hard in Washington to lift the restrictions placed on credit unions and our business lending efforts. Credit unions need to see the business lending cap raised from 12.25 percent of total assets to 25 percent.

MiBiz: Consumers Credit Union is making its way into business lending. Where’s the opportunity there?

Snyder: We’ve been in business lending for six years. We closed the year with $37 million in business loans, an increase of 20 percent over 2008. That growth has happened through word of mouth. As people hear that Consumers Credit Union is in the business loans market, our requests have tripled in the last year. Unfortunately, we are at our business loan cap, but we can make more loans as we grow. Our business lenders are under our roof. (Other) credit unions have looked into credit union service organizations, but it hasn’t made sense for us. I like to keep things right here where we can make the decisions ourselves. Thirty Michigan credit unions have committed $43 million for small business loans.

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