Credit union taking interest in Wrangell

Wrangell residents might have a new banking option in the future.

Helen Mickel, chief operating officer and vice president of Tongass Federal Credit Union, paid the island a visit last Thursday, holding a meet and greet that evening in City Hall.

Though only four people showed up to the event, she had spent the afternoon and following morning meeting with the locals.

“I’ve had a chance to visit with a lot of people around town,” Mickel said. Overall, she said the response has been positive. “I think there’s a place for us in Wrangell.”

In an interview, she described the credit union’s history. Based in Ketchikan, TFCU was started in 1963 by teachers and public workers, who had a difficult time

obtaining loans from the local banks. The concept of the credit union was that members pooled their capital together to provide themselves with those loans, as well as providing more affordable rates and services.

It remained a profession-specific financial service until 2001, when the National Credit Union Administration granted TFCU’s community charter to include all of Southeast Alaska. This allowed membership to move beyond teachers and public workers and into other communities.

In 2005, TFCU was invited to the 1,400 people in Metlakatla Indian Community after the local bank branch withdrew.

“They were desperate,” Mickel narrated, telling the credit union “We need financial services.” Until that point, TFCU had not given serious consideration to a branch outside Ketchikan. They began in the previous bank’s premises, starting modestly.

“It grew and grew and went really well,” she said. A new branch building would be opened in 2012.

The next year, Thorne Bay approached the credit union with an offer, with volunteers pulling limited shifts behind a counter at the local sporting goods store.

“We kept our cash in their gun safe,” recalled Mickel.

Klawock was next, with TFCU setting up shop inside the community’s grocery store to start with.

“We’ve never gone somewhere that we haven’t been invited first,” said Mickel.

If a branch does find its way to Wrangell, Mickel explained it would follow a similar pattern, with a part-time staff at first.

“We’re not going to come blazing in,” she said. “Right now I’m trying to think about space.”