The Suit Magazine

Nestled into the delta where the St. Clair River flows into the Great Lakes, there is a small town called Port Huron. Downtown where the ships dock is a historic marina, and stretching across the river to Canada is the beautiful Blue Water Bridge. It’s a picturesque place, but in recent years things have taken a turn for the worse. Port Huron suffers an unemployment rate of almost 20 percent, which is more than twice the national average.

This presents challenges for Janice Rose, CEO of the area’s E&A Credit Union. The credit union has been serving members for over 75 years, and has forged a reputation for keeping clients’ needs over all else. “Everything we do is with the member in mind,” said Rose.

In better days, this meant finding any way to grant personal loans. But in times like these, E&A serves clients better by closely analyzing each member’s financial standing.  Although they must turn more people away, Rose reports that some have actually come back to thank them for not approving their loan requests. “We try to counsel people on what’s in their best interest,” she said. Having an elected board of volunteers helps the credit union make members a priority, whereas larger banks focus on making money for investors.

The credit union focuses on consumer lending, although they have recently branched out to help entrepreneurs get financial help for small business startups. “We have avenues where we can help small businesses achieve financing they couldn’t get elsewhere,” said Rose.

Whether helping businesses, families or individuals, E&A’s focus is always on excellent service. “We made a concerted effort to differentiate ourselves, making our whole value system around what benefits our membership and our community,” said Rose.

For more information please visit: www.eacu.org

< Prev		Next >