Robert L. Coleman, Jr.¹
Northwest Baptist Federal Credit Union

The Northwest Baptist Federal Credit Union had its beginning forty-seven years ago as a faith-based financial institution dedicated to serving its members by offering savings accounts and low interest loans. As the cooperative non-profit grew in members and assets, expansion of services and field of membership was a natural progression. However, the credit union's growth was conducted using the model that aided in making and keeping the credit union successful; i.e., it was done in measured steps.

One of our goals was to serve the community - all of the community, especially including the underserved. This includes individuals who are disabled, those who are not exactly enamored with doing business the traditional way, and people that often are made to feel uncomfortable or unwanted by other financial institutions. That having been said, we too operate in a traditional way, but with a slight difference. We show that we really care by finding alternate ways to provide our products and services.

Getting back to the model, one-step-at-a-time planning, we started out with one member church, then we expanded to serving four churches, and now we have a large portion of the Central Seattle community (approximately 5 square miles). We don't own it, but we can serve it. And since our offices are now located in the Hearing, Speech and Deafness Center (HSDC), we are poised to have a positive impact on those looking for a user-friendly financial institution. You could say, it's been one of our focus niches.

Partnering with the HSDC, which provides low-to-moderate housing in the multi-use facility enabled the credit union to "move up" only one block west of the old site, while gaining an additional 1,600 square feet of office space. The new space is significantly larger, but remains very close to our previous location, which is convenient for our members. More importantly, the building is much more accessible for disabled individuals. As Chair of the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions' Disability Education and Awareness Committee, the added accessibility for our members was a top priority that I feel has been met at the new locale.

While relocation costs had originally been a concern, Northwest Baptist was fortunate to receive a grant from the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund to help complete the relocation and construction of the new office. As a result of the CDFI Grant, we were successful in getting our landlords to agree to several years of great rental rates and a host of other amenities as well.

In order to offer a fuller range of financial services and not have to "reinvent the wheel," the credit union has formed partnerships with two larger credit unions. These partnerships enable us to provide our field of membership with first mortgages, retirement and estate planning, investment advisory services, annuities… a complete set of financial tools to help our members meet life's challenges.

As a person of faith, I've often heard it said that the Living God is Good! Well, that is very much an understatement. I must have been the biggest complainer about the noise generated during the building of the HSDC complex last year, not realizing that it would become our future home. Lesson learned? Be very careful what you complain about, you could miss out on a blessing!

1 Robert L. Coleman, Jr. is the President and Chief Executive Officer for the Northwest Baptist Federal Credit Union and has held this position for two decades.