National Cooperative Bank: grocery, housing & purchasing co-ops on spectrum of organizations financed

Rural Cooperatives, May-June, 2004

An independent organic grocery in San Francisco makes the transition to 100-percent employee ownership. An Alaska native corporation based in Nome starts a clothing manufacturing business in Puerto Rico. A New York City co-op apartment building refinances to make long-overdue capital improvements. A Native American tribal entity opens a stunning, award-winning golf course on Pueblo Indian lands in New Mexico. A charter school in a low-income Bronx neighborhood moves from a makeshift temporary. location to a new, stare-of-the-art high-tech campus.

These are just a small sample of recent projects made possible by financing from National Cooperative Bank (NCB), headquartered in Washington, D.C. For more than 20 years, NCB has been providing a comprehensive array of financial services to cooperatives and other member-owned organizations throughout the country.

Currently owned by more than 1,800 of its customers, NCB serves a spectrum of cooperatives, including wholesale grocery co-ops, retailer-owned purchasing co-ops and housing co-ops. Beyond this customer base, however, NCB also meets the needs of other enterprises, each grounded in a spirit of cooperation and democratically organized, even though they are not cooperatives in the strictest sense.

These groups, for example, may be nonprofits that deliver services to their local communities. They may be ESOPs (Employee Stock Ownership Plans) giving workers an equity stake in their companies. Or they may be Alaska Native enterprises that, by their very nature, are member-run and member-driven.

NCB is unique because it was created to serve the financial needs of this underserved market-niche--people who join together cooperatively to meet personal, social or business needs, especially those in low-income communities.

Chartered by Congress in 1978, NCB was privatized in 1981 as a member-owned financial institution.

As a bank whose mission is to serve and promote cooperatively organized enterprises, NCB's success is measured by the degree to which its customers succeed. So, the bank continually changes and innovates as its customers seek new financial solutions in an increasingly competitive environment:

* In real estate lending, NCB promotes multifamily homeownership by offering an array of financial services to housing cooperatives and other types of community associations.

* In commercial and small business banking, NCB helps member-driven organizations of all shapes and sizes grow with customized financial services.

* In community development, NCB assists at-risk communities with a unique blend of technical assistance and development finance.

* In personal banking, NCB provides financing for co-op and condo apartments, as well as checking and savings for consumers nationwide

Working to ensure the continued vitality of the cooperative sector as a whole is also very much a part of NCB's mission. Which is why, every. year, the bank publishes the NCB Co-op 100, in both print and online versions, highlighting the nation's top 100 coops and their contributions to America's economy.

Each October, NCB also plays a role in the celebrations surrounding Na6onal Co-op Month. In 2003, as part of this annual observance, the bank produced a video and accompanying brochure titled "What is a Coop? You'd be Surprised." It shows how cooperatives are interwoven throughout American life. Copies can be obtained by calling NCB at (202) 336-7742 or by sending an e-mail request to marcom@ncb.coop.

The enterprises NCB serves are large and small. They are located in rural and urban communities. They affect the lives of Americans ha essential ways, enabling them to realize their dreams of owning a home, running a competitive business, giving their children a good education and making sure they have access to quality health care now and as they grow older. NCB helps them by crafting financial solutions tailored to their continually evolving needs.

Contact information: website: www.ncb.coop; phone: (800) 955-9622; address: 1725 Eye St. N.W., Suite 600, Washington, D.C. 20006. President & CEO: Charles Snyder; Chairman: Stuart Saft, Council of New York Cooperatives.