MINNEAPOLIS–The first Black-led credit union in Minnesota has been granted its charter, the first new state-chartered credit union in the state in 23 years.
The Minnesota Department of Commerce has issued the charter to Arise Community Credit Union based in north Minneapolis.
Details, including a concrete specific branch location, are still in the works, though CEO Dan Johnson said Arise has an agreement to lease space on W. Broadway, according to the Star Tribune.
"It's going to be about eight months before we can take our first member," Johnson told the publication.
"Arise Community Credit Union's charter is an exciting opportunity to remove historic barriers to financial services, to build wealth and to grow Minnesota's economy more inclusively," Grace Arnold, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Commerce, said in a statement.
In the Works for 8 Years
As CUToday.info has been reporting, Arise Community CU has been in the works for about eight years, after the Association for Black Economic Power (ABEP) emerged in 2016 after the death of Philando Castile and other police killings. At the time it said it aimed to focus on "organized investment into the Black economy," and in 2017, ABEP announced the name for its credit union as Village Financial Cooperative.
“Fraud allegations in 2019 led to the dismissal of two Village Financial leaders, and the credit union was renamed Arise in 2022,” the Star Tribune reported. Wells Fargo recently pledged to open a new branch in north Minneapolis. Johnson has 17 years’ experience with Wells Fargo.
‘Testament to CU Advantage’
"Arise Community Credit Union is a testament to the credit union advantage," Mara Humphrey, CEO of the Minnesota Credit Union Network, said in a statement. "When our values and commitments come together to lift up and invest in communities, our entire state benefits."
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