DTMCU Staff

When the state-mandated shutdowns started last March, Skyler Fort, a painting contractor in northern Michigan, turned to his local credit union, 4Front Credit Union, for a PPP loan.

Earn & Invest, March 15, 2021 Today we talk credit unions with Gigi Hyland and Mike Schenk and how they are different from other traditional banking establishments. Have you considered a credit union? Why not? Plus a new segment from the community. Are you an Earner or Investor? Learn More

When you practice the credit union motto of “people helping people,” your day doesn’t end at 5 p.m. I spend most of my evenings speaking with small business owners, in a socially distanced environment, advising them on different strategies to help them continue to meet payroll and handle other operational expenses amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

I remember learning in school the importance of “show, don’t tell.” I was taught to not just tell a story, but enrich it with details to make it more immersive to the reader. That lesson holds as true for credit union advocates as it did for me in grade school.

Growing up in segregated North Carolina, Bill Bynum recalled a credit union that was run out of the high school principal’s garage. The credit union helped Black people get loans at a time when other financial institutions were closed to them.