Jennifer Harris’s commitment to Coconino Federal began in high school.
“If you had enough credits, you went to school in the morning and were released to work in the afternoon,” Harris explained. “Your employer contributed to your grade for the class. The CEO at the time came to the class for a presentation and I had just applied with the credit union. She later said she hired me because of my ‘cute smile.’”
Born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1979, Harris moved to Flagstaff, where her mother had accepted a job with the Forest Service.
Prior to entering the banking world, her only workforce experience was at Der Wienerschnitzel. She also attended Northern Arizona University for several years.
Today, as Harris works at the Coconino Federal Credit Union branch at 2800 S. Woodlands Village Blvd., CFCU has another branch in Flagstaff on Fourth Street and a third in Page.
Unlike a bank, members, who are also account holders, own CFCU. Membership is open to anyone who lives, works or worships in Coconino County.
“We have over 10,000 members all over the world; once a member always a member,” Harris said.
The CFCU motto is, “People Helping People.” The credit union is governed by a seven-member, volunteer board of directors, which is elected by members at annual meetings. Each board member serves a three-year term.
The board provides organizational goals and oversees the general direction of CFCU. It also hires a president/CEO to implement policies and take charge of day-to-day operations.
Harris said Coconino Federal Credit Union has provided many opportunities for learning through the years.
“When you work at a small financial institution, you wear a lot of different hats,” she said. “I don’t have a specialty, but I do a lot of different things. I have held most positions at one time or another, including currently serving as the president and CEO.”
She describes her job as “busy and always changing,” while balancing members’ needs with business practices and striving to offer exceptional service.
“It requires a whole team of really smart people,” she said. “I am really fortunate to have an amazing team that works together to make sure everything is running as smoothly as possible.”
Harris says she is a strong believer in the mission of the credit union. “I get to be part of a not-for-profit cooperative whose only job is to serve our members, since they are the owners of the credit union. We do banking, but banks make money for their shareholders. The money we make goes back to our members in the form of higher savings, lower loan rates, less fees and more products and services to make things easier for them.”
Harris has seen many changes in the banking industry since she started her career. “Regulatory changes are a big one, the crack down on predatory lenders and ‘junk’ fees that have had a trickle-down effect on institutions that are not involved in destructive practices,” she said. “Credit unions are about protecting the consumers and doing their best for them; unfortunately, we get lumped into the whole group of financial institutions.”
She recalled some of the more prominent crises during her tenure. “We’ve had our share of storms over the years, from the banking crisis of the ‘90s, which didn’t directly affect us. It was mostly related to commercial banks and Savings and Loans, but did change how people banked. The housing crisis of 2007-2008 was also a difficult time. Our credit union tends to be rather conservative with its lending policies; it is our members’ money, after all, and at the time we didn’t do first mortgages, so we were lucky to only take a few losses on Home Equity loans.”
The pandemic also had an impact. “It woke up a lot of people to what’s available digitally and other ways to go about doing their banking. We offer many solutions to make things as convenient as possible for people. We know they are busy.”
From that opportunity in high school to today, four decades later, Harris says she loves her job, the institution, her associates, and the credit union members she serves. FBN
By Betsey Bruner, FBN