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On March 6, Maine Harvest Credit Project hosted its "organizer event," a critical part of obtaining a charter and achieving recognition as Maine's 59th credit union. State and federal law requires a new credit union to form a group of organizers to review and adopt its by-laws and appoint the first board of directors. John Murphy, President of the Maine CU League, attended the event and called the event "a key step toward making the credit union a reality."
Maine Harvest has recruited 15 organizers, including Goodwill Industries of Northern New England’s president and CEO, Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, whose grandfather Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s administration was responsible for passing the Federal Credit Union Act of 1934. The act created the Bureau of Federal Credit Unions to charter and regulate federal credit unions. The bureau was replaced in 1970 with the current National Credit Union Administration.
Roosevelt said that when her name was floated as a possible organizer for the unusual credit union, she jumped at the chance. The Somerset County resident said she has friends and neighbors who are farmers, and that they have described to her their struggles obtaining needed financing.
“They talk about the need for choice and the ability to borrow money to run their operations,” Roosevelt said.
Other organizers include Maine Farmland Trust President and CEO Amanda Beal, Misty Brook Farms owner Katia Holmes and cPort Credit Union Vice President Chris Van Dyck.
Maine Harvest’s goal is to establish a credit union that its backers believe would fill a gap in available financing for the state’s food producers by offering land-backed mortgages in the $100,000 to $400,000 range, small-business loans of $60,000 to $125,000 and equipment loans of $20,000 to $40,000.
Project co-founder Scott Budde, who would serve as CEO of the credit union, said farmers and other food producers are underserved by financial institutions because few banks are likely to have loan officers who understand the food economy and unique nature of a farm’s business operations. Larger banks in particular don’t see farmers as a profitable market segment, he said.
Since the project began in May 2015, Maine Harvest’s founders have raised $1.4 million in donations to help capitalize the credit union. Once chartered, it would be the country’s first credit union to lend specifically to entities working within the food economy. The credit union aims to increase Maine’s food production, keep legacy farmers on their land and make it easier for food entrepreneurs and farmers to grow their businesses.
Murphy, who has met with project leaders multiple times to offer support and guidance during the process, added, "This milestone is required for all new credit unions,” he said. “It is not an easy process to organize a credit union, and everyone involved with the Maine Harvest Credit Project should be very proud of their many accomplishments to date."