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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0899.002 2014-2016 PIic MAK Sgq Murashige, Laura From: Tricia Buskirk <triciab@hicommfcu.com> Sent: Wednesday,June 01, 2016 11:46 AM To: Council Testimony; Eoff, Karen; Kanuha, Dru; Poindexter,Valerie; Chung,Aaron; Onishi, Dennis;Ilagan, Greggor; Paleka, Daniel; David, Maile;Wille, Margaret Subject: Bill 212 Testimonial Letter Attachments: Bill 212 Hawaii Community FCU.pdf Importance: High Aloha, • Attached, is a written testimony on behalf of Bill 212. I would greatly appreciate if you could take a few minutes from your valuable time to read my response on Bill 212 and urge you to consider the impact of these changes on over 143,000 credit union members that belong to 9 credit unions on our Hawaii Island. Tricia Buskirk, President/CEO Hawaii Community Federal Credit Union 73-5611 Olowalu Street, Kailua Kona, HI 96740 PH: (808) 930-7600 Cell: (808) 896-5322 FX: (808) 930-7684 www.hicommfcu.com This message is only intended for the addressee named above. Its contents may be privileged or otherwise protected. Any unauthorized use, disclosure or copying of this message or its contents is prohibited. If you have received this message by mistake,please notify us immediately by reply mail or by collect telephone call. Thank you. Any personal opinions expressed in this message do not necessarily represent the views of Hawaii Community Federal Credit Union. (7) Comm; PQ Ref. To: Ref. nate JUN 12 2Q4-- 1 DERL C .0 `� P Ownership counts. June 2, 2016 Hawaii County Council, Finance Committee Re: Bill 212 Dear Chair Eoff, Vice-Chair Pointdexter, and members of the Committee: Hawaii. Community Federal Credit Union was started by 10 struggling coffee farmers during the midst of one of the nation's worst economic periods—The Great Depression. They were refused loans and services from the financial institutions that existed back then. So in 1936, these 10 struggling coffee farmers got together and signed a charter for a new credit union, the Kona Farmers Federal Credit Union. In 1939, the credit union expanded its membership base to include helping the local community as well as farmers and was renamed Kona Community Federal Credit Union. After the closing of the sugar plantations in Kohala and Honokaa,their Credit Unions were losing their sustainability. We acquired these Credit Unions through mergers continuing the Credit Union philosophy of People Helping People and extending even more credit union services and products to their communities. Our field of membership increased when we merged with Kohala Federal Credit Union 1981. So to better represent the geographic scope of our growing membership we changed our name to Hawaii Community Federal Credit Union in 1991. In. 2000, our field of membership opened up to Hawaii Island as we merged with Paauhau Federal Credit Union. Today, we have over 40,800 member-owners. Through the years our charter changed, the name evolved, we merged with other credit unions and the lives we touch through our membership grew. But we never forgot our fundamental philosophy=people coming together to help each other succeed especially in difficult times. Unlike for-profit financial institutions that have public stockholders, Hawaii Community Federal Credit Union is a not-for-profit financial cooperative where our members are both the account holders and owners with an all-volunteer board of.members. Each member's account represents ownership of the credit union. Income after operating expenses and federally-mandated reserves is returned to our member-owners, in the form of higher yields on depository accounts, lower rates on loans, and lower fees on financial services. In the recent financial crisis, when financial. institutions stopped lending,we continued to lend to our member-owners, to continue supporting them in times of need. When local businesses closed down for various reasons, we provided assistance packages to help our member-owners to their next employment. Hawaii Community Federal Credit Union is currently the only financial institution serving Kohala after the departure of the only other financial institution from that community a few years ago. We will continue to serve our Kohala community, through good times and bad. 73-5611 )lows Iu Street Kailua-Kona, HI 96740 0 (808) 930-7700 o www.hiconmr€cu.com Pricing benefits that credit unions provide are not limited to our members alone. Independent studies have shown that the presence of credit unions in a community helps to keep rates and fees charged by for-profit financial institutions in that community more affordable for everyone. We provide financial education to our community with free financial literacy seminars available to the community throughout the year. We provide free financial literacy material available to all middle and high schools on Hawaii Island and 3 student run credit unions in Konawaena, Kealakehe and Kohala High Schools that provide participants with live work experience. We also partnered with the State and County to provide the Kids Savings Programs in 8 public elementary schools to educate children about thrift and savings. $17,500 in scholarships go to 7 deserving Hawaii Island High School Seniors each year with a specific scholarship focused on those pursuing a degree in agriculture to encourage our youth in maintaining our future sustainability. In addition to our financial services and financial education,Hawaii Community Federal Credit Union is committed to community service. We participate in many events and projects that benefit the community, such as raising money for Hawaii Island United Way, Hawaii Food Basket, Relay for Life Kona, Kona&Kohala Hospital Foundation, and 70 other organizations. We humbly ask the Hawaii County Council to consider our request to preserve the not-for-profit tax status of Hawaii's Credit Unions. 'We are committed to providing low-cost,high-quality financial services to our member-owners and financial education to our communities. However, higher costs in the form of a new tax would harm our ability to continue our current level of service to our membership and communities. This could.impact the 143,700 credit union members island wide from the 9 Credit Unions on Hawaii Island. Sincerely, 6.,/ . (066z Tricia Buskirk President& CEO Hawaii Community Federal.Credit Union 73-5611 Olowolu Street 0 Koko-Kota, HI 96740 (808) 930-7700 0 www.hicommicu.com