Our credit union was founded to serve hard-working people and ensure they have access to the financial services they need to build the lives they want. The last few years have been challenging for our community — and for everyone — but we feel that our responsibility is to do right by our members in good times and bad.
Our employees have been been working hard for you. Over the past months, we’ve seen their dedication and expertise make a big difference for two important groups: homebuyers and small business owners.
Record Numbers for Home Loans
While other local banks and credit unions suspended some of their home loan programs because of the coronavirus pandemic, we stepped up for members who were eager to get mortgages as interest rates hit record lows. We’re thrilled to help so many of our members become homeowners.
In June 2020, our Real Estate Lending team closed more than $100 million in loans in a single month for the first time. In 2019, we were the top lender in mortgage volume in Northeast Florida, with $688.47 million on 5,134 mortgages, according to the Jacksonville Business Journal.
Sustaining Small Businesses
We’ve been equally focused on small business owners who were affected by the pandemic. When the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) began taking applications in April 2020, we issued more loans for small businesses than any other credit union in Florida, according to the U.S. Treasury Department. We originated 4,431 PPP loans totaling $146,593,337, which helped small business owners retain employees, pay bills and stay in business in spite of the challenges brought on by COVID-19.
Supporting All of Our Members
Our loan programs demonstrate our commitment to serving all of our members, regardless of how much money they have. For example, the average VyStar mortgage amount in 2019 was just over $134,000. Of the top five mortgage lenders in our area, we were the only one whose average mortgage was less than $200,000.
Our PPP numbers told a similar story. Of the 4,431 PPP loans that VyStar issued, 4,295 were for less than $150,000. With an average PPP loan amount of just over $33,000, we were able to help the small, mom-and-pop businesses that are critical to our local economy and needed assistance the most. As a result, more than 20,000 local jobs were saved as employees remained on the payroll.
Staying True to Our Roots
Helping to save jobs, keep small businesses open and support our community is payment enough, but it is gratifying to see our hard work reflected in these numbers. They show that as we bring credit union services to more people, we are also staying rooted in the working-class philosophy that dates back to our founding more than 60 years ago.
At VyStar, that will never change. We will remain committed to our members by offering high-quality and dependable products and services. That’s what defines us, today and in the future.