Proposed Black-Led Credit Union Gets New Name

The new credit union sought to serve the Minneapolis-St. Paul area’s Black community is getting a new name: Arise Community Credit Union.

The name was announced Thursday by the Association for Black Economic Power (ABEP), the nonprofit organization formed to create the state-chartered financial cooperative with a mission to address systemic financial challenges affecting area residents, particularly Blacks and other minorities.

The credit union was to be called “Village Financial Credit Union,” but ABEP’s legal counsel urged the board of directors to consider a name change to avoid confusion with several other financial institutions currently using with the word “village” in their title.

ABEP’s board of directors collected and screened more than a dozen name suggestions. It then offered its stakeholders the opportunity to vote online on two of them: “Arise Community Credit Union” and “Northrail Community Credit Union.” Nearly 90% of voters picked Arise Community Credit Union.

ABEP Executive Director Debra Hurston said the name change represents another major step forward in bringing to reality the Black-led credit union, which was ideologically birthed during the racial unrest following the murder of George Floyd. When approved, Arise Community will be the first new state and federally chartered credit union to open in the state of Minnesota in nearly a decade.

“Next steps include pulling together the credit union’s board of directors and key committees, as well as putting the final touches on the charter application documents before submitting for operational approval this fall,” Hurston said.

After state and federal regulators approve its application and charter, the new credit union will be based in the North Minneapolis neighborhood. It will serve Minnesota’s two most populous counties: Hennepin County, which includes Minneapolis, and neighboring Ramsey County, which includes St. Paul.

In April, Mark Cummins, president/CEO of the Minnesota Credit Union Network and the Minnesota Credit Union Foundation, said a capital campaign to support the credit union’s launch was about halfway to reaching its goal through contributions by Minnesota credit unions and individuals. It had also secured $2.7 million in deposit commitments from credit unions in Minnesota.

Officials are still taking donations to support the new credit union.