The $31 million, 10,000-member Communicating Arts Credit Union changed its name to One Detroit.
One Detroit's president/CEO, Hank Hubbard (pictured), explained the credit union made the change after concluding that the name Communicating Arts had become a stumbling block when introducing the credit union to potential new members.
"We're on a membership push and it became clear that when I said, 'I'm Hank Hubbard from Communicating Arts Credit Union,' I would first have to explain our name," he said, adding that people would often ask, "Can only artists join?" and "Why is it called that?"
The cooperative chose One Detroit to emphasize its expanding membership base as well as to symbolize members pursuing a unified goal of improved financial health, Hubbard explained.
"We have adopted a new name that represents our blended membership base," the cooperative wrote on its website in regard to the change. "We are altogether One Detroit."
The credit union won CU Times' Trailblazer Award for Outstanding Service to the Underserved in 2010.
Hubbard acknowledged the change represents a big shift for the cooperative, which had been named Communicating Arts CU since the 1970s and had roots in the newspaper industry dating back to the 1930s.
He also noted the cooperative has continued to improve its financials following a significant downturn. In 2013, for example, the credit union had a delinquency ratio of more than four times its peer group in 2013 (6.51 for the then Communicating Arts CU versus 1.42 for its peers) and a loan charge-off rate of more than eight times that of its peer group for the same period (4.20 versus 0.51).
However, as of June 2015, the NCUA reported the cooperative's delinquency ratio fell to slightly more than 1% over its peers (1.65% compared to 1.22%) and its charge-off rate dropped to 3.95% – still far ahead of its peers' 0.42%.
Moreover, as Hubbard pointed out, the cooperative closed June with income of slightly less than negative $200,000 – a big difference from the less than negative $1 million it saw in 2013.
"We are definitely getting there," Hubbard said.
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