VLFCU Annual Report

While the spread of the pandemic lessened throughout 2022 with some form of normalcy returning, the credit union continued to feel the lingering effects of COVID-19 that consumed the nation over the past three years. As we worked through the onset of the pandemic in 2020 and then through the “great resignation” in 2021 and 2022, staffing became one of our biggest challenges as we experienced record turnover rates within our staff and managers. Along with staffing, the credit union experienced new and different economic challenges as inflation started to run its course, driving consumer prices to new levels and increasing interest rates. With all the challenges we faced over the past three years, I’m proud to say we have weathered the storm moving into 2023. Financially in 2022, the credit union experienced new record-setting trends which created the opposite effect of the prior two years. Excess member deposits started to run off as inflation, consumer prices, and interest rates rose to new record highs creating the highest and fastest rate increase in recent history. All three of these events once again changed the overall structure of the credit union’s balance sheet. Given these challenges, I am pleased to report that our 2022 year-end financial ratios remained strong with a very stable and manageable asset size of $294.0M, a very healthy .83% ROA and a strong Capital to Asset ratio of 11.86%, all well within or better than our credit union peers. As much as the last three years have been a challenge operationally for the credit union, I want to thank our staff for all their hard work and dedication to our members, along with our volunteer Board and Supervisory Committee for their guidance throughout the pandemic. I also want to thank our membership for your continued support and patience as we move into 2023. We feel privileged to serve you and thank you for giving us the opportunity to help you meet all of your financial goals. Our focus for 2023 and beyond will be to develop our expanded field of membership that includes Huron County and several townships that surround western Huron County by finalizing our new branch on Executive Drive in Norwalk. We expect that to be fully operational by the end of September; however, we are very aware that our long-term success is contingent upon our ability to attract new members while systematically keeping up with our existing members’ ever-changing financial wants and needs. We will also focus on getting the credit union staffed at a level that will help with our planned growth, and we will continue to develop technology that will help enrich the financial lives of our entire membership. Bryan P. Myers a message from Chief Executive Officer