From the CEO’s Desk
Hello, my name is Matt Jennings and I am the Chief Executive Officer of Quest Federal Credit Union.
I hope this letter find your new year off to a healthy and successful beginning for you and your family! Just a quick update on our lobby closures, as I mentioned in my previous letter, this step was taken for the overall safety of our members and our staff. We are all aware of the news and that cases continue to increase in our area and I know the lobby closures are inconvenient for all involved but we will continue with phone, online and drive up service only until we begin to see a decline in cases. Again, I know this can be terribly inconvenient and we do appreciate your cooperation and willingness to assist Quest in keeping everyone safe. If you have business to conduct that may require you to enter the building, we can make accommodations for this, I ask that you call your local branch VP of Operations and they will assist you in making arrangements to enter their branch and take care of your needs.
Quest highly encourages all members to take a moment to view and learn about our online services. We have a high volume of our members that use our online banking and mobile app currently and these service lines are Safe and Secure! It is frustrating we know when 14,500 members are all trying to call our offices and visit our drive ups at the same time. With mobile access you can view your account, retrieve a statement, move money around, make payments, track transactions, apply for loans and so much more. Again, we highly encourage our members to explore this option for service and our Member Service Representatives and Call Center Coordinators will be more than happy to assist you in setup and navigation. More information is available on our homepage and links are below.
2020 was one for the ages! We all know the prevailing news about the pandemic, political and civil strife among other concerning issues in the past year. That said, Quest had a banner year and for that, we thank our members for their continued patronage of the credit union, it takes all of us to maintain the level of success that Quest achieved in 2020. Asset growth ended the year at 29.28% and we now hold $159m in assets as of year-end. Loan growth was very strong coming in at 10.16% and even more positive that our delinquency is at an all-time low of 0.43%. Membership growth was very strong finishing at 3.41% net of dormancy and from an earnings standpoint, we closed out 2020 with a very strong 0.71% Return on Assets (ROA). All told, the picture for Quest was very bright in 2020 and this momentum has propelled us into 2021 with a strong foundation for safety and soundness.
January is typically the month that our Management Team and Board of Directors meet to conduct our planning session for the upcoming 12-18 months. As you can expect, we did not gather this year and have chosen to push our planning session back into late spring or early summer when it’s more likely that we can meet and discuss our plans in a face to face environment. Have no worries, we have plenty to keep us busy to begin the year and the major topic for 2021 is our developing plan to expand at Indian Lake. If you are not aware, Quest purchased a lot on Main St. in Russells Point just to the west of the harbor and donut shop. It’s a great location that has water access at the harbor and is easy to reach by road from the surrounding areas. We are currently finishing the design process for a 2400 square foot branch with a full serve ATM, drive up and lobby with a full time Loan Officer. The building will be an attractive addition to Russells Point and create a great point of contact for our members that live and work in the Indian Lake region. Our Board approved the expansion at their January meeting and our timeline is to finalize the design, seek state and local plan approval and be ready to break ground in September once the lake has reached the off season. Normally a branch takes 5-6 months to complete so we are planning for a spring 2022 opening date. Quest is very excited to take this step that has been planned for several years and we are very motivated to be a great community partner to Russells Point and the entire Indian Lake region.
In closing, thank you for your patronage. The Board of Directors and Staff would like to wish you all the best for a safe, healthy and successful 2021. We view Quest as one big family and we are here to help, so if there is anything that we can do to make your quality of life better, do not hesitate to ask! Stay safe, take care of family, neighbors, friends and yourselves. Thank you and I welcome any comments, suggestions or questions from our member/owners. I can be reached by calling the Main Office or via email at mjennings@questfcu.com. Thank you for your loyal patronage to Quest and I challenge you to Explore the Possibilities!
Matt Jennings, Chief Executive Officer
Matthew Jennings, CEO