Credit union thrives even post-mill

EVERETT — For decades, workers at the former Kimberly-Clark mill built their lives in town, meeting spouses, having children and finding lifelong friends.

And that meant mortgages, college tuition and cars.

Mill Town Credit Union helped generations of those workers put away savings and secure loans and mortgages for life’s necessities. Today, the mill may be gone — it closed in 2012 — but the credit union founded by workers continues on.

This month, Mill Town Credit Union celebrates its 75th anniversary on Sept. 29. And it’s going strong thanks to its members, said Mill Town’s chief executive officer Laura Leuze.

“The credit union was started by people before we were even born,” said Leuze, who has worked at the credit union for 20 years. “We have generations of memberships coming from just former mill employees. We have to be good at what we do and get to personally know everybody.”

Mill Town Credit Union currently has 2,821 members with more than $45 million in assets. The credit union has one of the highest capital ratios in the state, rated five star by Bauer Financials, she said.

A move from the waterfront to more visible offices on Pacific Avenue and Broadway in downtown Everett in April is credited with swelling membership numbers as individuals not affiliated with the mill look for a credit union style of banking services.

Membership was opened in the early 2000s, no longer restricting it singularly to mill workers. Still, the backbone of Mill Town Credit Union rests with the former workers of the mill.

Through the mill’s closure, members have been loyal to the credit union, even those who have moved away, Leuze said.

“The closing of the (mill) was hard on our membership, but we worked with anyone that needed help,” Leuze said.

The institution allowed extensions, reduced payments and shifted to interest-only payments to help former workers until they could get back on their feet.

“After the mill’s closure, our members continued to drive to the credit union to do their banking,” said Cathy Vanderberg, a credit union board member who worked at the mill for 25 years. “They would always run into people they had worked with and they would catch up…. “About 50 people watched the demolition of the oldest mill building from the credit union building. It was very emotional.”

In the new Mill Town Credit Union a home style lobby with comfortable seating, a fireplace and coffee, fosters a comfortable spot for members to continue to gather and catch up.

“Every day is like a reunion in our lobby,” said Leuze.

Celebration activities for the Mill Town Credit Union’s 75th anniversary are slated for later this fall with a drawing for a variety of prizes and a member picnic.