Toasting 80 years and looking forward to a bright future

The Bay Ridge Federal Credit Union welcomed friends and supporters to its annual meeting on April 2 – -the 80^th time such a conclave has been held.

To the crowd gathered at the Bay Ridge Manor, 76^th Street and Fifth Avenue, the credit union’s Executive Vice President Anthony Grigos gave a brief overview of the year that had just concluded, which continued the pattern of “stable growth…even through some of the most challenging economic periods.

“It is a very stable and safe pace of growth,” Grigos added, noting, “And hopefully with this improving economy, there is no saying how prosperous our credit union will be.”

One of the highlights of the past year, Grigos said, was the creation of a “state-of-the-art mortgage loan platform.

“We simply re-engineered our entire real estate mortgage business,” he went on. “This was driven by our strategic direction to begin offering one to four-family home loans.”

In addition, said Grigos, the credit union, “redesign[ed]’ its “commercial loan products and processes.”

On the consumer front, he said, the credit union, “last year…granted approximately 1,000 personal, unsecured loans, with a total value of $6 million – loans that helped members with their business, child’s education, home repairs, furniture, debt consolidation and much more.

“These small consumer loans are part of our identity as a credit union,” Grigos added, “to help our members with everyday financial needs and improve credit potential.”

Beyond the specific business of the credit union, Grigos touched on the local and national economy, noting that “New York City employment shows a very strong recovery,” and “New York State is in tune with the rest of the country.” In addition, said Grigos, there are “very encouraging data on our home values,” specifically, “an upswing over the past two years.”

Continuing the good news, Grigos said that, in terms of U.S. employment income data, non-farm income is “at the same level as just prior to the economic crisis in 2008.”