JACKSONVILLE, Fla.–Jax Metro Credit Union is expanding and continuing to rebrand itself after merging into North Carolina-based Self-Help Credit Union some five years ago.
In March of this year Jax Metro opened a branch in the River City Marketplace near Jacksonville’s airport. Director of Business Development Tom Larson told the Jacksonville Business Journal the credit union will continue to roll out the Self-Help brand throughout the rest of 2021, including a formal grand opening event for the branch in October 2021.
Jax Metro has been operating as a division of Self-Help and has looked to slowly rebrand in order to minimize the confusion for its members, the Business Journal reported.
The credit union also is focused on one other area, according to the report: making lending more equitable.
Jax Metro is one of two CDFIs operating along what is called Florida’s First Coast, along with 121 Financial CU.
Larson told the Business Journal the issue of lending inequality is largely a systemic issue — one that propelled the credit union, which has about $53 million in assets, to underwrite 1,250 home loans in 2020.
“We believe that the best way for families to develop wealth is to be a homeowner,” he told the publication.
Working With Small Biz
Jax Metro also has worked with the Small Business Development Council and other institutions to help educate minority-owned businesses about their options.
“(They need) to have their financial story represented: where they are and where they want to go,” Larson told the Business Journal. “We’ve got to be able to help people represent (those stories) across their lines of business, across operational elements of their business and capital investment opportunities.”
Jax Metro also made 60 Paycheck Protection Program loans that it said helped retain approximately 20,000 jobs.