A Conversation With ... Sammie Hermann

Tell us about some of the changes happening with the credit union?
We’re an 80-year-old credit union, and we’ve always been Springfield Teachers Credit Union. This year was our last 20-year lease with Springfield Public Schools. So our board of directors decided it was time to be on our own. So we built a new building. We’ve changed our name. We’ve added new products. Before, we (only served) anybody who was in education, but now we’ve opened our membership base, and it’s for anyone who works and lives in Greene and Christian counties, as well as school employees. We have about 2,400 members and four employees. We have a Web page at FoundationCreditUnion.com.

How was the credit union established?
This is a wonderful story. (The founder) was Mr. Lehman. I don’t remember his first name; I’ve always known him just as Mr. Lehman. He started this credit union in the basement of his home because teachers only get paid once a month and it was hard for them to make ends meet until 30 days later. He had a teacher come to him one day and ask, “Could you loan me $50? I just can’t make it until we get paid.” So he loaned him $50, and he charged him maybe $5. Word spread, but Mr. Lehman ran out of money, so he asked Richard Moore, who was on our board for years and is deceased now, to help. He (had) $100 to loan out, with interest, and they rolled that over to do it again. It was that simple. That’s how it started, and one thing led to another.

Why was Foundation Credit Union chosen as the institution’s new name?
Because (teachers) are the ones who built our foundation for us to get where we are now. So we thought, “What better name than to call it Foundation Credit Union?” (The name change) took place in December 2011.

When will the credit union move to its first standalone building at 1726 W. Elfindale St., and how was the location chosen?
The last three days of July, we’re going to be closed, to open there Aug. 1. We wanted to be centrally located. We’ve always been north, and south is so expensive and busy. I have many elderly members, and I was worried about them driving in the traffic, so we tried to stay as central as we could and decided not to go any further than Sunshine and to stay between Kansas and Glenstone. We built from scratch, and it’s about 3,400 square feet.

What are the new products and services the credit union will add with the move?
We’ve always just been a savings and loan. We never even had cash on premises. So now we’re going to have cash on premises, debit cards, checking and safe-deposit boxes. There are four (employees). There were only three of us, but we’ve already added a lead teller, and we’ll probably add one other person. We don’t know if that will be for new members (or) a teller, or if (the job) will vary.

What are you seeing in loan volumes right now?
In May, we did 33 loans, and in June, Vice President Michele Sechler and I did 53 loans. (On July 2), she told me she’s got 16 home loans sitting on her desk, and I (had) five.

We do home loans, car loans, boats, signature loans. It is picking up. The only thing we don’t do is business loans. We don’t have business accounts.

How will you target new members for the credit union’s expanded membership base?
I guess we’re going to have to advertise. Before, we didn’t advertise, because everybody knew we were just for the school employees, and (people) had to work for an educational facility to be a member. We’ve had so many members who have been sad because their neighbors couldn’t join, or their friends couldn’t join. So now, I’m hoping that word-of-mouth will help, too.