Banking on Small

Southeast credit union pairs with communities to provide microsites

By Rindi White

In some Southeast Alaska communities, the pinch of not having a local banking option is significant. Need a vehicle loan or want to take out a small home improvement loan? For the 560 residents of Kake, that might require traveling to Juneau—a $541 round-trip plane ticket— to get to a bank to sign loan paperwork. Add in hotel room, meals, and other sundry costs, and the bank trip quickly escalates to nearly $1,000.

It’s no surprise, then, that residents of the Southeast towns that are home to Tongass Federal Credit Union (FCU) community microsites are excited to share how happy they are that Tongass FCU is nearby.

“We are very glad to have them here. On a monthly basis, I couldn’t tell you how much it saves the community members versus traveling to Juneau,” says Kake Tribal Corporation President Robert D. Mills.

Tongass FCU opened a community microsite in Kake in December 2019. It’s located on the first floor of the Kake Tribal Corporation building, alongside a tourism office, a car rental program, and a coffee shop. The space is offered by the tribal corporation, and two Kake residents work there part-time, year-round.

“Any extra jobs are going to be a big plus in the community right now,” says Ashley Padgett, Kake Tribal Corporation office manager.

The community benefit isn’t just about being able to more easily get a loan, Mills says. It also means members who need to cash a check can keep more money in their pocket—a valuable thing, especially for elders in the community.

“Taking a $1,000 check to the store to get cash, they charge you $80 to cash it; it adds an extra struggle,” he says.

Seeking Sustainability

Helen Mickel, president and CEO of Tongass FCU, says the idea of small community microsites was prompted after Thorne Bay’s Business Association approached the credit union to request a branch.

Thorne Bay, on Prince of Wales Island in Southeast Alaska, is home to about 500 people. Mickel says Tongass FCU leaders at the time weren’t sure opening a branch would be sustainable. “We told the community we would need to have a place to go that is either inexpensive or rent-free,” she says.

A member of the Thorne Bay Business Association offered space in his sporting goods store, in his basement. That’s where Tongass FCU opened in 2006, keeping its cash in a gun safe in the store and operating with volunteer help, recording transactions on paper.

Today, Tongass FCU is in space at the city building, where it pays the cost of utilities it uses. It’s the only community site where Tongass FCU pays for the space it uses; other community microsites use donated space.

The CEO at the time did not push to open more community sites, but after Mickel became CEO, she says she looked around for more community microsite opportunities.

A community site opened in Hydaburg in September 2019, with one teller operating in a school. The Kake site opened a few months later, and Hoonah was the most recent location to open in June 2020.

“The goal for our community sites is to provide service where no one else will go. We also want to ramp up and provide community education where we can—Financial Reality Fairs in the high schools, for example. I think it’s really important for a healthy community to have a base where they can go to manage their money,” Mickel says.

She continues, “We also provide loans and services to the communities, including HUD 184 Tribal Lending Loans for tribal members,” which come with special provisions for housing purchases and renovations.

Valuable Services, Valuable Jobs

The microsites have evolved somewhat in the last decade. While space is still donated, the tellers are employees, trained by Tongass FCU.

Members are able to tap into the full range of services at the site, Mickel says. One is set up to handle loans onsite, and most others help members complete the paperwork and send it to the lender. Tongass FCU also offers online banking options and mobile access, including mobile check deposit, and each has an ATM available as well.

“We are unique in that we are the only ones I’m aware of that do something like this,” Mickel says. “It’s not highly profitable, but as a not-forprofit financial cooperative, this is in our wheelhouse. We are here to serve our members. Tongass is rooted in the Southeast.”

And its members and employees share those roots. Carriah Childress, the microsite administrator in Hoonah, says she is thankful to have a yearround job in the community she calls home.

Childress has lived in Hoonah about six years. She grew up in Sitka and moved to Hoonah in pursuit of a tourism job. “I really fell in love with the wildlife and the people and decided not to leave,” she says.

She moved from tourism to teaching before taking some time to stay at home with her son, who was born during the pandemic. By 2021, she was ready to re-enter the workforce. An associate teller job opened at Tongass FCU in Hoonah, and Childress found she enjoyed it. When the site administrator position became available, she jumped at the opportunity.

Childress says Hoonah was at first dubious about the Tongass FCU microsite. Larger banks had previously opened space in Hoonah but pulled out, sometimes leaving community members in the lurch. The last time that happened was twenty years ago, she says, but frustration remained.

“It took us about six months to earn the community’s trust,” she says. “People tend to be pretty conservative about their money.”

But people came around, particularly members who had small businesses or were comfortable banking in other communities.

“It’s giving access to financial markets to the villages,” says Hoonah Indian Association Tribal Administrator Nathan Moulton. “This has allowed them to establish an account, to establish credit.”

Hoonah Indian Association provided space in its former canoe shed, where it shares space with SnowCloud Services, the local internet service provider. The two businesses have their own space, with separate locking doors, Childress says.

Moulton says the Hoonah microsite has helped the Hoonah Indian Association directly because it now has faster access to its accounts.

“We’re not… sending deposits through the mail. Sometimes they would take a few weeks to deposit; sometimes they would not even show up,” he says.

Another benefit is the ability to use money (or prepaid) cards, he says. Prior to Tongass FCU opening in Hoonah, people would get a money card through a large retailer, but those cards often have fees attached.

“[The microsite] allows convenience, less fees, and they’re able to enjoy their money at its fullest versus giving it away to those companies that are sometimes not even in Alaska,” Moulton says.

Shakeup Sparks Strong Support

The growth hasn’t always gone smoothly. Tongass FCU opened a branch at the school in Hydaburg in September 2019; four months later, Mickel says, two young men stole the ATM. Mickel says it caused her to doubt whether the microsites were a good idea or if they posed too much risk.