Commonwealth. News from Cooperative Federal, Syracuse s community development credit union.

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1 Commonwealth #100 News from Cooperative Federal, Syracuse s community development credit union. In this issue... (Click to jump to a story) Cultural Workers SW Grand Re-Opening Business Success Story Pay to Play Tax Breaks Youth CU Celebrating a New Beginning for the Southwest Office On November 28, over 50 of Cooperative Federal s members, friends and allies joined together to mark the official Grand Re-Opening of our Southwest Office. Located inside the Southwest Community Center, the long-awaited branch expansion is helping us to provide a higher level of service to a neighborhood that has been largely abandoned by mainstream banks. Our Southwest Office was first opened in 2002, after local organizers from Syracuse United Neighbors (SUN), Jubilee Homes, and other groups sought a vehicle for combating Continued on Page 6 Creating a Place of Beauty All in One Hair Studio gets a boost from our Step Up Loan Fund Belkis Espinal is one determined lady. After fifteen years of working as a hairdresser in other people s shops, she decided to open her own place. To build up her clientele for the new shop, she spent two years working part time in a salon, as an employee, and part time at home, on her own. Meanwhile she signed up for a class in starting a small business. Her teacher was so impressed with her plans and her budding business that he offered to work with her as a partner. But in the end, Belkis made the bold choice to move forward on her own so that she would be free to create a business that was true to her vision of community and authenticity. With the support of her family, she filed all the necessary paperwork to open as a sole proprietor and started looking for a home for her business. Historia de Exito de un pequeño negocio: All in One Hair Studio Belkis Espinal es una mujer con una determinación única. Después de trabajar quince años como peluquera, ella decidió abrir su propio salón de belleza. Con el apoyo de su familia, ella pasó dos años estableciendo su clientela, tomando cursos de negocio, y haciendo todos los papeleos para abrir su salón como la única propietaria. Luego, ellos empezaron a buscar un sitio para el negocio. La hija de Belkis, Yuriana, describe la tienda abandonada que ellos encontraron en una sola palabra: destruída. Pero toda la familia ayudó a recrear el espacio como un salón de belleza. Según Yuriana, Es parte de la identidad latina. Así somos muy estrictos. Dos meses despues, All in One Hair Studio abrió el negocio en 937 North Salina Street. Hoy, el salón es un reflejo bonito de la personalidad de Belkis- cariñosa y abierta. La mayoría de sus clientes es hispano-hablante, como Belkis, y parece que agradecen el lugar especial que ha creado, tanto como su talento como peluquera. El año pasado, Belkis recibió un préstamo (Step Up Loan) de $2,200 desde Cooperative Federal para añadir una línea de productos de belleza a su negocio contribuyendo a las utilidades netas y llevándola un paso más cerca a su sueño. Vean los fotos en la página 3! Reunión Anual y Cena Reunase con nosotros para la reunión anual y cena de Cooperative Federal: Domingo, 17 de Marzo, 2013 a las 3 pm, en el Assumption Church Parish Center. Llame al (315) Continued on Page para más detalles. Continua en la Pagina 4 Cooperative Federal Finance for the People since 1982 Tel: (315) info@coopfed.org Eastside Office Mailing Address Southwest Office Southwest Community Center Northside Office Assisi Center Winter 723 Westcott 2013 Street, Syracuse, NY South Avenue, Page Syracuse, 1 NY North Salina Street, Commonwealth Syracuse, NY #100

2 All in One Hair Studio, continued Cooperative Thinking A Column by Carl Mellor Belkis daughter, Yuriana, who served as translator for our interview, describes the place they found in one word: Destroyed. At one time it was a North Side community social club, but when they found it in 2009, it had long been abandoned. The whole family helped clean it out and re-create the space as a salon. When asked about the family effort, Yuriana says simply, It s part of the Latino way of being. We re very tight in that way. Two months later, All in One Hair Studio opened for business at 937 North Salina Street. Without taking out a business loan, they were able to rent the store, refurbish it and buy the needed equipment. Weighing the Odds of Pay to Play Tax Incentives A new year has begun, but as usual some things haven t changed. In most of the United States, unemployment remains high. That situation has prompted states, cities and counties to offer tax incentives, free land and other benefits to entice companies to move factories or offices to a new location. Those efforts have had decidedly mixed results. The state of Rhode Island, for example, negotiated with a video game company, tendering a loan guarantee for $75 million if the company would move from Massachusetts to Rhode Island. The promise of 400 jobs faded away when the company went bankrupt. Taxpayers were left with a large tab. Out west, Klamath Falls, Oregon put together a package of incentives for Sykes Enterprises, operator of call centers in the USA and abroad. The goodies included cash, a property-tax exemption for three years, and free land. After six years, the call center shut down. In his book, The Great American JobsScam: Corporate Tax Dodgers and the Myth of Job Creation, Greg Lerox notes that this wasn t a one-time event for Sykes Enterprises. They operated the same way in Greeley, Colorado; Ada, Oklahoma; and Pikeville, Kentucky. In each instance, the company received substantial incentives, operated a call center for several years, and then closed it. Closer to home, New York State established a system of tax incentives governed by lax regulations. That opened the door for shirtchangers, companies that qualified for incentives simply by changing the corporate name. Sometimes no new jobs were created. And there s Benton Harbor, Michigan, one of the poorest communities in our country. It developed a dubious economic development strategy based on building a golf course. While it s possible to cite many other examples like those listed above, that course isn t particularly useful. We need to look at the phenomenon of pay to play from a structural perspective. First, officials from state and local government say they have no choice but to offer economic benefits to companies. They say this is simply how business is done. Second, competition for jobs encourages one state or locality Continued on Page 6 Member Organization Spotlight: Syracuse Cultural Workers Cooperative Federal has over 40 Field of Membership (FOM) organizations. Volunteers, members, and employees of these groups can join our credit union regardless of where they live or work. This spotlight is on a progressive publisher that has been a member of our credit union for decades. The front room is painted in rich colors and there are comfortable chairs for customers in the waiting area. It s a lovely reflection of Belkis personality warm and welcoming. When I visited on a recent Saturday, every chair was taken by a customer waiting for Belkis to work her magic. Business is so brisk that Belkis now employs two part-time assistants. Most of the customers are Spanish-speaking, like Belkis, and seem to appreciate the special place she has created, as well as her talent as a hairdresser. Yuriana still helps her mom with marketing and other aspects of the business where the language barrier is a problem, and is very involved at the moment in creating a web site for All in One. As the salon became established, Belkis started to look for an infusion of capital to help the business grow but two banks in a row turned down her request, saying that the business was too new to have a strong track record. She decided to try Cooperative Federal, inquiring at our branch just one block up the street from her salon. While she still didn t qualify for a regular business loan, Cooperative Federal was able to help her with a $2,200 Step Up Loan, a special microloan fund that was founded with support from the Gifford Foundation. She used the money to add a line of retail beauty products to her business, increasing her bottom line and bringing her one step closer to her dream. Now, Belkis and All in One are on a promising path. Like most salons, All in One needs other operators to rent booths in order for the business to turn a good profit. Belkis has four hair stations and a nail station all set up and waiting for the right operators. With characteristic determination, she is looking for the right people to fit into her vision of what a salon should be. -Barbara Kobritz, Outreach Volunteer Photos by Stasya Erickson, Board of Directors These days, Syracuse Cultural Workers (SCW) is best known locally for its storefront at 400 Lodi Street. With colorful flags and progressive-themed posters, the SCW store is part of the landscape in the Hawley-Green neighborhood. But as the CNY activist community well knows, SCW is an operation with a history and footprint that reaches far beyond our town. SCW founder and owner Dik Cool first launched the project in 1982, with one product: the nowiconic Peace Calendar. The Syracuse Peace Council (SPC) had been publishing that calendar for eleven years, with Dik as the coordinator, but he was moving on from that staff position around the same time as SPC decided to redirect their focus and end the calendar project. Dik explains, I didn t want to see the calendar end, because it was an effective way to promote progressive values throughout the year. So five of us picked up the calendar, and that was the beginning. For the first ten years, SCW mainly served as a distributor selling posters from artists and publishers around the country and abroad, on a consignment basis. We had no capital, Dik recalls, with a chuckle; I didn t have a business background, and I don t think any of us were even aware you were supposed to have capital. By creating consignment arrangements, SCW was able to use their modest resources to meet a real unmet demand. There were lots of radical publishing groups around North America at that time, Dik explains, but they had no way to distribute. The Cultural Workers filled that void. Continued on Page 8 Left: Spanish version of the classic How to Build Community poster. >>Visit the SCW store at 400 Lodi Street during African American History Month (February), and get a free poster (value $10) when you spend $25 or more. Page 2 Belkis Espinal warms up a historic storefront at 937 North Salina Street. Share Your Story! Inform and inspire your fellow credit union members. Contact Meagan at info@coopfed.org or Got Feedback? Holiday Hours We want to hear from you. Send questions & comments to: Board of Directors Staff - General Staff - Member Service board@coopfed.org info@coopfed.org memberservice@coopfed.org Monday, Feb CLOSED President s Day Wednesday, May 1 - CLOSED International Workers Day (May Day) First Home Club - Monthly Enrollment Workshops Find out if you qualify for $7,500 to $9,500 in downpayment assistance through Cooperative Federal s Matched Savings Program! Call Kira Crawford at (315) for information or to register. Page 3

3 Beyond the Classroom Falcons Fowler High A look inside the Youth Credit Union Program Cooperative Federal s youth credit union program first appeared in 2008, when students at Ed Smith Elementary (now Ed Smith K-8) received crisp Treehouse Saver passbooks and began to watch their deposits grow through Friday morning Saving Days. Today, while PTO volunteers keep things rolling at Ed Smith, our staff are breaking new ground with studentrun branches at three local high schools. Our original branch in Fowler High is in its third school year; with funds from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, new branches are being organized at Henninger and Nottingham. These branches are the sharpest tools in our youth financial education toolkit. The students running the programs don t just learn about personal money management concepts; they learn leadership and career skills, from tellering to marketing to research and professional writing. And the students who use the branch don t just cash checks; they talk with peers and financial education experts, who encourage them to save for the future and walk them through the steps of opening and managing a bank account, or even building and using credit responsibly. Teaching these lessons outside of the classroom allows students to learn financial education on their own terms. Abstract ideas are applied to real-life decisions, in a safe environment with trusted advisors. Young adults can learn from their mistakes before the stakes are too high and ultimately avoid the pitfalls of debt and distress. They also get a glimpse into the world of cooperative, non-profit finance, as an alternative to global capitalism! With this approach, we hope to help raise a generation that is empowered, responsible, and conscious of their role in the world. This fall, Falcons Trust relocated to a welcoming, centrally located Instructor. Thanks to the CNY Works Youth Jobs Program, eligible eventually put their skills to the test by serving as Youth Member space in Fowler s new wing. Above, two prospective youth employees are trained by Kira Crawford, our Financial Education students can actually be paid for their time on branch operations, peer education and outreach, and other tasks. Some Service Reps at our regular community branches, after school and during the summer. Henninger High Savings At Henninger, students can prepare for life after high school have taken it a step farther, meeting every other Friday to plan Dellwo, our Financial Education Coordinator, spoke to interested through Balancing the Books, a financial education program mentored by Syracuse University students. Some of the members a student-run credit union branch. They are reaching out to their peers with Info Sessions like the one pictured above, where Thom students. Next, the group will conduct a market survey, and Tech Ed students are constructing furniture for the future branch. Nottingham Federal Take a look at what s happening in our YCU program now. - Photos by Stasya Erickson, Board of Directors and Rachel Greene, Executive Assistant Narrated by Meagan Weatherby, Program Sustainability & Outreach Coordinator La noticia tras bastidores del Programa de Cooperativa de Ahorros y Crédito de Jóvenes Este año, Cooperative Federal está abriendo nuevos caminos con sus nuevos sucursales dirigidos por estudiantes, en tres escuelas secundarias en la comunidad. Nuestra sucursal original en Fowler está en su tercer año, con fondos de Catholic Campaign for Human Development (Campaña Católica para Desarrollo Humano), y estamos estableciendo nuevos sucursales en Henniger and Nottingham. At Nottingham, a small but high-powered crew is using their conducted a market survey, secured a space for the future December. Above, students show the site of the future branch, Enseñando estas clases afuera de la salón de clase, los estudiantes aprenden educación financiera en sus propios términos. Jóvenes pueden aprender de sus errores antes de que los riesgos sean demasiados altos y últimamente evitar los obstáculos de la deuda y la angustia. Usando este método, esperamos ayudar a criar a una generación poderoso, responsable, y consciente de su papel en el mundo. Los estudiantes dirigiendo los sucursales de jóvenes no sólo aprenden sobre la gestión de sus finanzas personales, aprenden habilidades prácticas y cómo ser líderes. Los estudiantes que usan la sucursal no solo cobran cheques, hablan con sus compañeros y expertos de educación financiera, quienes los motivan a ahorrar para el futuro. Page 4 experience organizing an in-school credit union branch to enter a DECA Competition this spring. So far, the students have branch by negotiating with school administrators, and shadowed staff during a test run during the Plowshares Craftsfair in review the Financial Education Manual that they submitted to the regional DECA Competition, and discuss branch design logistics. Echen un vistazo a lo que pasa en nuestro programa de jóvenes ahora (fotos arriba). Page 5 Continua en la Pagina 7

4 Tax Incentives, Continued to bid against another government. Thus, Kansas provided a $36 million package so that AMC Entertainment would move its headquarters from Missouri. Third, personal connections play an inordinate role in the awarding of incentives. In the Rhode Island example, Curt Schilling, a former Red Sox pitcher and a New England icon, owned the video game company. His celebrity status facilitated the decision to offer the loan guarantee. Fourth, even well-informed people have little sense of the sheer magnitude of public spending to chase jobs. New York Times researchers estimate the national total is roughly $80 billion. Yet, in spite of the outpouring of tax dollars, hard numbers on job creation remain quite obscure. Greg Leroy says that the price tag per job is often $100,000. That expense is particularly painful when the jobs come from the retail sector, known for low wages and few benefits. So, why do so many government entities get involved with pay to play? Well, jobs continue to be a major concern, and public officials at all levels feel obligated to have a job-development strategy. In addition, those efforts certainly don t fail every time. After Wegman s closed its grocery store on Pond Street, on Syracuse s North Side, the city promised that incentives would be in place to help Top s Friendly Markets open at that location. That seems to be a worthy use of public resources: preserving a critical amenity in a predominantly low-income neighborhood, and reclaiming jobs that would otherwise disappear. Similarly, during 2002 the city awarded a grant to Nojaim Brothers Grocery Store at 307 Gifford St. The family-owned store has operated at that location for many years and generally serves customers who have low incomes. This fits into a broader community-development mission and helps to preserve an independent business sector. And there are many examples of positive outcomes beyond our city. Tax incentives have assisted a variety of fledgling industries. At the very beginning, airlines received public subsidies. La Gran Reapertura de La Oficina de Southwest El 28 de Noviembre, más de 50 de nuestros miembros, amigos y aliados, nos unieron para celebrar La Gran Reapertura oficial de nuestro sucursal Southwest. Ubicado dentro de Southwest Community Center, la anhelada expansión de la sucursal está ayudándonos a proveer un nivel de servicio más alto, a un vecindario que ha sido abandonado en gran parte por los bancos convencionales. Nuestra Oficina de Southwest abrió las puertas por primera vez en el Ahora nuestra oficina es mejor y más grande, presentando un nuevo look, un vestíbulo espacioso, una entrada separada de South Ave, y espacios privados para ayudar a los miembros con préstamos, cuentas, educación financiera, y asesoramiento de vivienda (HUD approved housing counseling). Source: However, none of that alters a basic premise: various government units have spent millions of taxpayer dollars on ill-conceived ventures, on projects that no private lender was willing to finance and on major enterprises that ultimately produced a small number of jobs. Beyond that, there s often a shocking lack of accountability. Stories about the failure of an economic project seem to have a short shelf life. All too often, the demise of one project does little to promote more prudent development decisions in the future. іaverigue si Usted califica! Asiste al taller del First Home Club Llame a Joyce Figueroa al (315) (Español) para conocer el horario y otros detalles. Registración es necesaria. Estamos orgullosos de finalmente acabar con esta renovación. Vean algunas fotas del evento debajo, y luego véanlo ustedes mismos! Continua en la Pagina 8 SW Grand Re-Opening, Continued During 2013, we are going to hear much discussion about how to make sure tax dollars are well spent. That conversation should definitely include a critical review of the range of incentives offered at all levels of government. How can we use public coffers to promote not only job growth, but community-based economic development in the form of cooperative businesses? In that vein, follow my next column for a look at the National Cooperative Development Act. -Carl Mellor, Volunteer Columnist poverty and economic distress in their neighborhood. Using a tiny space originally designated as a coat closet! as a member service branch, Cooperative Federal has deployed over $7.3 million in the form of loans and mortgages to community residents and businesses ( ). Now our office is bigger and better, featuring a new look, a spacious lobby, a separate entrance from South Avenue, and private spaces for helping members with loans, accounts, financial education and HUD-approved Housing Counseling. Para compradores de casa por primera vez, pueden ganar de $7500 a $ , para asistencia con el pago inicial. Durante el evento, líderes de Cooperative Federal y de la comunidad describieron el camino sinuoso que nosotros y nuestros adeptos han viajado tras la última década. Como nuestra lema dice, Construimos el camino mientras viajamos, la cooperativa de ahorros y crédito ha aumentado su inversión en la comunidad Southwest poco a poco mucho más que los bancos mayores de Syracuse mientras enfrento varios obstáculos, empujando la expansión hacia adelante. SW Grand Re-Opening, Continued Christina Sauve, our Assistant Treasurer, welcomes members and supporters. Soñando con ser Propietario de Casa? Before touring the office and enjoying refreshments from a neighborhood business, St. Louis Finest Catering, attendees at the Grand Re-Opening Celebration listened to brief remarks from several partners who helped make this expansion posible: Paul Driscoll, Commissioner of the Syracuse Dept. of Neighborhood & Business Development; senior management of the Syracuse Model Neighborhood Facility, which operates the Southwest Community Center; and Louise Poindexter, a neighborhood activist who helped allocate funding for the expansion as a member of the Midland-Lincoln-Bellevue Community Initiatives Working Group (and subsequently joined our Board). Christina Sauve, our Assistant Treasurer, also spoke and presented special appreciations to Rich Puchalski (Syracuse United Neighbors), Walter Dixie (Jubilee Homes), and Jesse Dowdell & Tracey Corridors (Syracuse Model Neighborhood Facility). Continued on Page 7 Page 6 Together, these speakers described the winding road Cooperative Federal and our supporters have traveled over the past decade, as we sought to make this expansion a reality. True to our motto, We build the road as we travel, the credit union has incrementally upped our investment in the Southwest community far outlending Syracuse s major banks while navigating sundry barriers and moving the expansion forward. We re proud and a bit relieved that our long-awaited renovation is complete. Come see for yourself! (M, T, Th 10 to 3; W 11 to 3; F 10 to 6.) -Meagan Weatherby, Program Sustainability & Outreach Coordinator Photos by Stasya Erickson, Board of Directors Left: Staff members show guests around the Southwest Office lobby. Right (from top): Community partners and members join the event; Commissioner Driscoll speaks; Treats for everyone. Special Thanks This expansion has been made possible by: Senator David J. Valesky, Mayor Stephanie A. Miner, the Syracuse Common Council, the Syracuse Department of Neighborhood & Business Development, the Syracuse Model Neighborhood Facility/Southwest Community Center, the Midland-Lincoln-Bellevue Community Initiatives Working Group, CDFI Fund, Latocha Builders & Renovations, Inc., and Harmony Architectural Associates. Page 7

5 Your savings federally insured to at least $250,000 and backed by the full faith and credit of the United States Government National Credit Union Administration, a U.S. Government Agency Syracuse Cultural Workers, Continued The Cultural Workers have continued to adapt and grow over the years. Their traditional catalog is supplemented by their storefront (which generates about 1% of their sales) and an extensive online store; they ship to retail and wholesale customers throughout North America and beyond. As production by other publishers has declined, SCW has gradually increased the number of products it designs and publishes in-house. By 2000, roughly 80% of SCW s products were designed and published in-house, and now Dik estimates that it is over 90%. By taking over the creative side, we ve been able to impart our own aesthetics, our own politics. It also makes more money for us, Dik admits an important benefit for a small publisher in a strapped economy. The folks at SCW are happy to include Cooperative Federal as part of their business plan, now and in years past. Staff members are encouraged to use Coop Fed for their primary financial accounts and most do and our credit union is one of only two institutions that have made business loans to SCW. (Fun fact: The other lender was the Adrian Dominican Sisters of Michigan, a radical order of nuns!) As they close their thirtieth year, Syracuse Cultural Workers has seven full-time and four part-time staff, and a strategy for finding a solid path for a paper-based business in an increasingly digital world. They have over 1,000 products on their website, including a growing number of products in Spanish, and they are experimenting with a new service: developing portable, themed exhibits for universities and other groups, using imagery they ve already compiled to reach a whole other audience. The first such exhibit they assembled was Sisters of Freedom: African American Women Moving Us Forward, for a small college in Milwaukee. They also coordinated with the Onondaga Historical Association in 2012 to mount the poster exhibit 30, honoring SCW s anniversary. The exhibit closed on January 20, But one thing won t change, as Dik explains: We ve always tried to provide information around progressive issues to people students, activists and others who need inspiration to work for change. -Meagan Weatherby, Program Sustainability & Outreach Coordinator Socio Brillante de la Organización: Syracuse Cultural Workers La organización Trabajadores Culturales de Syracuse (Syracuse Cultural Workers) es conocida más en la comunidad por su fachada ubicada en 400 Lodi Street, pero su historia alcanza mucho más atrás de nuestra ciudad. Establecido por su dueño Dik Cool en 1982, fue enfocado originalmente en distribuir pósteres hechos por editoriales tras América del norte. Empleados, familias, y amigos de Syracuse Cultural Workers./Syracuse Cultural Workers staff, friends, and family. Hoy en día, ellos diseñan y publican más que 90% de sus propios productos, incluso una selección creciente ofrecido en español. Además de su tienda, ellos envían a sus clientes a través de los EEUU y mas allá de su catalogo y tienda de compras por internet. Cooperative Federal está orgulloso de contribuir al éxito de SCW como uno de las dos organizaciones que les han dado préstamos de negocio ( El otro prestamista fue un grupo de monjas radicales!) Mientras el mundo continúa a cambiando, SCW continuará a adaptandose. Pero una cosa nunca va a cambiar, como explica Dik, Siempre hemos intentado proveer temas de información de progreso para la gente estudiantes, activistas, y otros quien necesita inspiración para trabajar y obtener el progreso/ cambio social. -Traducido por Rachel Greene y Patricia Farfan-Cáceres Call for Nominations Volunteer on our Board of Directors. Participate in democratic governance and help shape the future of community development finance in Syracuse! Contact Ron Ehrenreich at or nominations@coopfed.org. Annual Meeting and Dinner ~ Cooperative Ownership in Action ~ Sunday, March 17th at 3:00 pm Assumption Parish Center 802 North Salina Street (Entrance on Catawba Street) Brief Reports & Board Election 3:00 pm Dinner 5:00 pm Call or visit NCUA Federally insured by NCUA Syracuse Cooperative Federal Credit Union - Established 1982 Our mission is to rebuild the local economy in ways that foster justice, serve people and communities that are underserved by for-profit financial institutions, and responsibly manage our members aggregate assets. Page 8