Audio clip
John Klemann
When Southern Credit Union started in 1933, Chattanooga and the rest of the country were in the midst of the Great Depression.
Bread cost 7 cents a loaf and the average person paid about $18 a month to rent a house.
It also was the year that a small group of employees of Southern Railway decided to put their money together and form a credit union.
The group of roughly 50 members that started Chattanooga-based Southern Credit Union has grown to more than 4,100 members all over the Southeast. Today it marks its 75th anniversary at an annual meeting at the Convention Center.
The not-for-profit, member-owned group has two branches in Chattanooga and one in Knoxville. Members live all over the eastern United States, from Ohio to Florida.
“We’ve got a past to be proud of, from where we started to where we are now,” said John Klemann, chairman of the board of Southern Credit Union.
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Staff Photo by Tim Barber-- Southern Credit Union member services representative Chris Chastain, left, assist CARTA employee Sam Huff with a transaction from one of the teller cages at the 508 National Ave. location. Southern Credit Union is one of the oldest credit unions in the state and is celebrating their 75th anniversary.
The credit union has come a long way from those humble beginnings, with its members now paying their bills online, doing their banking from home or on the road, and they have a total of $19 million in total assets.
Today, membership has been expanded to include employees and families of the Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority, Bunge Oils, Archer Daniels Midland Co., North Georgia Textile Supply and Norfolk Southern Railway, formerly Southern Railway.
John Harper, general manager of the credit union, attributes the group’s longevity to the members, who come from industries that he said will always be in demand.
“One of the advantages that we have is that our three largest groups, which would be Norfolk Southern, CARTA and Bunge, are industries that are related to services that aren’t going to go away,” he said. “The industries that are our core membership are core industries that are going to be here for the long haul.”
Technology has changed significantly since the credit union opened, Mr. Harper said. He said it is a constant challenge to keep up with services offered by other credit unions. But that challenge is one that he said the credit union is meeting head on by regularly updating and adding services.
Southern Credit Union started because the founding members had more faith in each other than they did in the banking system at the time, said Cindy Beale, who has worked for the credit union for 12 years.
She said the members and employees still share that philosophy.
“Celebrating 75 years of operation is almost unheard of today,” she said.
then and now
* 7 cents — cost of loaf of bread in 1933
* $5,750 — cost of a house in 1933
* $18 — average monthly rent in 1933
* $1,550 — average yearly wages in 1933
