PORTLAND, Ore.-Continuity and a personal touch keep tiny Sunset Science Park FCU at or near the top of credit union rankings, according to its CEO.
When told Callahan & Associates had named SSP FCU second overall and first in Return of the Borrower in its asset class at just $22 million in assets, it barely made the list of CUs with $20 million to $50 million-Judy Makela said gleefully, "We keep doing that, and I am very proud."
Makela, who will have been with SSP FCU for 30 years in May, almost all as CEO, told Credit Union Journal her CU is "very heavy" in mortgage loans, "which sends red flags to NCUA all the time."
"But they are not all 30-year, fixed-rate loans," she explained, adding many of its mortgages are five-year balloons, 10-year balloons or other products. "We have 2,000 members and those members know us and we know them. We have a strict rule of no more than 10% of assets in 30-year, fixed-rate loans."
Sunset Science Park FCU gives members what they need, and is competitive on rates because it keeps control on expenses, Makela continued. "We have had very few chargeoffs over the years, and we hope to keep that number down over the next couple years-although I am realistic enough to know some of our members are dealing with unemployment and there might be some losses."
Sunset Science Park FCU always has been "very close" to its members, Makela said. Its field of membership is not one company, but it consists only of companies within one industrial park in a close-knit, unincorporated area near Portland.
"We are in a location where we can easily go to community charter, and we might still do that, but for right now we only want to go at a slow, controlled pace," she said. "Our members don't want everybody to be able to join us, because they will lose that personal touch. We continue to have good ratios, so we are doing something right."
Another element that makes SSP FCU different is longevity. In addition to Makela's 30-year tenure, her second-in-command has been with the CU for 22 years, and almost everyone else on its six-person staff has been there at least 10 years. Makela attributed the low turnover to belief in "treating people right and paying well."
"Everybody here does everything," she declared. "We are experts in different things, so we can ask each other for advice. Other than me, everyone has a teller drawer. Also, we give our members a lot of things. We own our building and have for 13 years, so we dedicated a room for safe deposit boxes. We offer online services to attract younger members. Many of our members have no other banking relationship. This contradicts what many credit unions say about not being able to do things because of their size. Small credit unions can do things, and a lot of our success has been because of our third-party vendors."
SSPFCU currently serves 12 companies. It does not serve every company that is headquartered on Science Park Drive, but Makela said she is happy to add small, well-run companies.
