FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich.-One credit union here is trying to make a sweeping contribution toward digging this state out of the financial doldrums.
For much of the last decade, auto manufacturers, once the lifeblood of a thriving economy, have been shutting down plants leading thousands without a job and Detroit's housing depression, leaving many residents to move out of state.
So to commemorate its 75th anniversary, Community Choice Credit Union has made a commitment to play a role in turning things around. At a dedication ceremony for a new headquarters this fall, CEO Rob Bava announced that the $416-million institution would be forming a foundation to help students pay for college, a move he believes could be the start of a statewide transformation.
"We're looking for this scholarship (program) to really be our stake in Michigan," he said. "Right now we have a number of college students that aren't seeing Michigan as a place to find their career opportunities, and there is a perception that there are greener pastures elsewhere."
Over the next four years, the credit union will contribute $400,000 toward the Community Choice Foundation, which will hand out $5,000 scholarships to students within the CU's FOM who graduate with a GPA of at least 3.0 and who will be attending a college or university in the state of Michigan. An essay describing why students want to attend school and eventually work in the state may also be required down the road as the foundation tweaks the qualifiers.
"We intend to button this up by the end of the year, but we would like to speak to a couple of educators to get their input," said Bava. "And we're working on that right now."
He also hopes to raise an additional $750,000 from its membership, businesses and the community at large by 2012. If each of Community Choice's 50,000 members contributed just $5, Senior VP-marketing John Owens noted, the foundation would meet its goal. One scholarship has already been entirely paid for by private donations-all courtesy of a single donor.
"We've already had one individual that attended our public event come clear out of the blue and say 'I want to donate $5,000,'" Bava said.
Should the foundation's mission be successful, expansion is possible. Bava noted that the idea of handing out scholarships in an effort to bring in students from other states to combat the "brain drain" Michigan is experiencing is very much a possibility.
"We wanted to start out with what we thought is realistic and doable. If the foundation grows, that would certainly be a consideration that we would make," he said. "Right now we know there is a group of kids that are staying here...that we think we need to appeal to first."
Bava credited Owens as the "catalyst" for the foundation, but the marketing VP credited Community Choice's founders for providing the inspiration. Like many credit unions that popped up during the Depression, Community Choice, then known as Redford Township Community CU, was founded in 1935 by a group of neighbors who each put $5 into the pot. While the current economic crisis is not at the level of the Great Depression, Owens does see similarities in the hardships the communities face then and now, and in the way in which those neighbors tried to spur economic growth as the foundation is doing today.
"I read the history of the organization and I was inspired about what those people were doing and the parallels make so much sense," he said. "If we're going to change things, we have to become the agent of change."
