TACOMA, Wash.–CU Strategic Planning is reported that its client credit unions received more funding from Treasury grants in one day—approximately $500 million–than all credit unions had received combined in history up until that point.
As CUToday.info reported here, the Treasury Department just announced 84 credit unions were awarded long-term secondary capital loans as part of its Emergency Capital Investment Program (ECIP). In all, CUs received more than $2 billion in awards ranging from less than $1 million to more than $200 million.
Of that funding, CU Strategic Planning, which exclusively serves credit unions, reported it was responsible for obtaining $500 million in secondary capital for 21 credit unions through ECIP. With the newest funding, CU Strategic Planning reported funding for its credit unions has now reached $770 million for credit unions.
“That figure is more secondary capital than all currently outstanding secondary capital, as well as that deployed historically since the first issuance in 1997,” the company said, citing data from Callahan & Associates that showed between 1997 and 2019, $50 million was deployed by Inclusiv, the largest provider of secondary capital to credit unions outside of the federal government.
“The achievement of 100% approval for 21 credit unions is also a significant accomplishment for CU Strategic Planning because historically NCUA approval has been difficult to obtain,” CU Strategic Planning added, citing a separate report indicating NCUA denied 15 of 18 secondary capital requests made by one organization between 2017 and 2019.
A ‘Wonderful Accomplishment’
“This a wonderful accomplishment for our amazing credit union clients, and our team led by CFO Sharon Hall,” said CU Strategic Planning CEO Stacy Augustine. “Hall’s leadership in this historic achievement comes from decades of deep experience with CDFI and low-income designated credit union financial projections. She led the team to accomplish what has never been done before.”
CU Strategic Planning further noted the good news for CU Strategic Planning and its clients came days after the U.S. Treasury CDFI Fund announced the FY2021 FA/TA Awards, which resulted in CU Strategic Planning’s clients receiving $20 million in grants, with an average client award more than $100,000 more than peer credit unions.
“This was a big year for CDFI-certified credit unions,” Chief Strategic and Advocacy Officer Mike Beall said. “We knew our team needed to step up to the plate as the only consultancy experienced with Treasury’s prior CDCI in 2010 and the largest writer of CDFI grants for credit unions. There’s never been a year like this. Funding for CDFIs was 50 times greater than any year prior—reaching $12 billion.”
Workforce Doubles
To prepare for the increased volume of work, CU Strategic Planning reported it nearly doubled its number of employees.
In a statement, Augustine credited rigorous process documentation, a partnership with TransUnion,thorough “training, mentoring and investment in tools as allowing the firm to maintain its quality of work while increasing the number of credit unions it serves.”
CU Strategic Planning said its credit union clients receiving ECIP funding ranged in assets size from less than $5 million to more than $10 billion in asset size, and the investments deployed range from $900,000 to $175 million. In total, $8.7 billion in ECIP investments were approved by Treasury, including $2 billion to credit unions.
For info: CU Strategic Planning.