Business View Magazine | December 2020

205 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2020 SELFREL I ANCE FEDERAL CREDI T UNION personal checking accounts, but it specializes in real estate and property loans. “We’re kind of unusual from the perspective of our loan portfolio,” Kutnyy says. “Usually credit unions are more focused on consumers and consumer loans – credit cards, auto loans – but 95% of our loan portfolio is comprised of real estate loans. We also have investment property loans. Our business loans are secured by real estate and we have a lot of them – investment property loans, we call them – and residential mortgages. That’s 95% of our entire loan portfolio.” By helping its members to secure real estate and to own property, Selfreliance affirms its commitment to building community, and this bond remains at the heart of the institution. The credit union’s dedication to the Ukrainian-American community extends beyond finances, however. In 2005, Selfreliance Federal Credit Union established the Selfreliance Foundation, a separate entity which oversees philanthropic endeavors. “The Foundation was founded to and CEO Vitaliy Kutnyy. “At the same time they were pursuing economic stability and a better future for their children as citizens of the United States.” Selfreliance enabled members to bank in both their home language and in English, which was a great comfort, as many credit union members were still learning English. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s and Ukraine’s Declaration of Independence, a second wave of immigrants joined the credit union. Membership has continued to grow since that time. Today, Selfreliance Federal Credit Union has over 24,000 members and is approaching 700 million dollars in assets. With over 120 employees, and 10 branch locations in Illinois, Michigan, and New Jersey, it offers a full-service customer experience unparalleled among institutions of its size. Selfreliance offers all the consumer-based products and services of a typical financial institution, from auto loans and credit cards to