Two Well-Known Credit Unions Merge to Expand Services to Underserved Farms and Food Businesses in Maine
Bath, Maine – March 31, 2023 – Five County Credit Union today announces the creation of Maine Harvest Solutions, a new department offering specialized financial services to farmers and food entrepreneurs – a historically underbanked sector in the United States. The department will offer financing for land, equipment, and businesses, as well as mortgages to farms and related businesses. These loans and other financial services strengthen Maine’s food economy and help preserve working farms and farmland. The department is one of the many changes resulting from Five County’s December 2022 merger with Maine Harvest Federal Credit Union, which earned the national distinction of being the first credit union in America to specialize in agricultural lending.
Founded in 1956 by employees at Bath Iron Works, Five County has seen steady growth through the innovation of financial solutions to meet the needs of Maine’s hard-working and often underbanked blue-collar sector. In addition to offering extended branch hours, Five County was the first in Maine to offer video banking and continues to help Mainers re-establish credit and financial stability by offering second-chance checking accounts, career advancement loans, and first-time buyer and credit building programs. Its member-centric strategy has paid off – today Five County is one of Maine’s largest credit unions, with 15 locations, 29,000 members, 130 employees, and $363M in assets.
Julie Marquis, CEO, Five County Credit Union, says that “the merger with Maine Harvest embodies our mission to create meaningful financial solutions for Maine’s hardest working population.” Marquis, who started as a teller in 1993, became CEO in 2016. “I’ve seen the power of our work in action – providing financial opportunity changes lives.”
Chartered in 2019, Maine Harvest Federal Credit Union (MHFCU) aimed to close the estimated $186 million financing gap in Maine’s agricultural sector which, in turn, would increase the availability of local food, strengthen rural economies, preserve working farms and help capitalize startups and food entrepreneurs. MHFCU opened its doors less than six months before the COVID-19 pandemic. “While the pandemic presented numerous challenges, we proved that loan demand in this sector exists and that these are great farms and business to work with. We also simply needed to make larger loans to our members,” said Maine Harvest co-founder Scott Budde. “We approached Five County because its mission aligned with ours and it felt like a natural advancement of our work,” Budde added.
“Agriculture is a vital sector of Maine’s economy, and access to capital is a major limiting factor in the sector’s growth and success. I anticipate this merger will have a very positive impact on farms and food businesses throughout the state,” said Amanda Beal, Maine’s Commissioner of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry.
The merger will expand financial offerings within Maine’s agricultural space by enabling larger loan sizes and a broader range of services. In addition, Five County will cover closing costs for agricultural real estate borrowers up to $2,000 and provide $20,000 in PFAS assistance through the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA) and Maine Farmland Trust. Both programs were funded at the time of the merger through the equity of Maine Harvest FCU.
“It is significant that these two credit unions, founded sixty years apart, share such similar commitments to improving the lives of everyday, hard-working Mainers,” said Todd Mason, President/CEO, Maine Credit Union League and Synergent. “I have confidence that their combined strength and specialized focus will have a significant impact on improving Maine’s economy.”
For Media Inquiries: Diana Nelson, diana@blackflymedia.com, 978-985-9993 / Scott Budde, sbudde@fivecounty.com, Five County Credit Union