AFCU Annual Rpt, Pt 1

BUILDING A TEAM

If I were a coach, I'd call 1994 a rebuilding year. Our financial
performance was mediocre: we needed more members to borrow from us, and
without that borrowing, we were unable to support increases in dividend
rates. We did little better than break even.

But since I'm not a coach, I look at the year as a team building year. We
completed our "Year of the Staff" by fully implementing our livable wage
policy, by attaining a diverse, involved, professional staff. Our lending
record speaks for itself, and this year speaks a little more clearly, as you
will see from the statistical reports on 1994 borrowers. Look at our lending
plans for 1995 and you'll see new plans to target under-served communities
in Tompkins County. We added to the community by supporting our staff to
volunteer for twenty non-profit boards. We supported our members through a
new Business Yellow Pages, our art gallery, music gallery and donations
through Round Off. We took our philosophy into the political arena and saw
successes with the CDFI legislation and the local M&T Bank CRA (Community
Reinvestment Act) agreement. We were rewarded with two dozen plus press
features, and four significant awards.

We are an experimental institution. We should accept a pretty high failure
rate and high program investment costs. But our ultimate strength is in you
- the owner/members of the Credit Union. That is the strength that shines
through, that permits us the opportunity to create something unique.

Bill Myers, Manager Alternatives Federal Credit Union


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