Struthers Credit Union Breaks Ground for Office
STRUTHERS, Ohio -- The Struthers Federal Credit Union broke ground Wednesday evening for the construction of a $650,000 building at the corner of Fifth and Poland avenues in Struthers.
The new headquarters, to be built by The Murphy Contracting Co., Youngstown, will occupy 3,000 square feet and better serve its 3,700 members who live, work, attend school or worship in the Struthers community, reports Linda Krestal, manager. “We’ll be able to have more technology based services. It will take some time to work all the kinks out, but that’s one of our goals,” she says.
The office, designed with a through-the-wall ATM and drive-up lanes, is scheduled to open next May.
“The whole city is backing the project,” says Annissa Neider, project designer for MS Consultants. “It’s the first construction since the schools in the city.”
About 30 Struthers residents, credit union members and city officials were on hand for the ground-breaking. “Some of the neighbors were a little hesitant on the zoning, but the whole community came together and rallied behind the credit union and here we are,” Neider says.
Struthers Federal has been at its site in the Struthers Plaza on Fifth Avenue some 15 years. The staff of nine – five full-time and four part-time employees -- occupy a former Mahoning National Bank branch.
With $15 million in assets, Struthers Federal offers basic financial services, checking accounts (which are free) with overdraft protection, debit cards, savings accounts and certificates of deposit, online banking, auto loans (new and used), motorcycle and recreational vehicle (RV) loans, and unsecured (signature) loans. It does not offer mortgages.
Motorcycle lending has proved especially popular, Clark says. And the credit union recently lowered its auto loan rate to as low as 2.95% for 72 months from 3.5%.
As debit cards – Struthers Federal offers MasterCard debit cards – have grown in popularity, use of ATMs has fallen. Members’ use of currency has declined as they have taken to using their debit cards instead of carrying cash, Clark relates.
One product Struthers Federal offers that few others do is EZ Cash, an alternative to payday lenders who offer short-term loans at effective rates of interest as high as 393%. The credit union will not deny a loan application simply because the member has a low credit score, Clark says. It would rather work with such members so they aren’t gouged by payday lenders.
To obtain an EZ loan, the credit union member must pay a $20 application fee and can borrow anywhere from $200 to $1,000 at 21% interest. Maximum term is six months.
Struthers Federal, founded in 1960 by teachers in the Struthers school system, has been involved in its community since the beginning, says assistant manager Mary Jo Clark. It conducts an annual food drive, participates in Toys for Tots and provides a scholarship each year to one of its members or the child of one of its members.
“We’re a strong supporter of Struthers schools,” Clark says, the staff of nine, the board of the credit union, and many of its members working to help the system.