This is the FCB Podcast Network. This is the Jeff and Nick Show. Welcome to the Jeff, Lori and Nick Show, and we are an informative talk show focused on finding solutions. Today, we are happy to have an exciting guest with us, none other than Lorie Guzzie, who is the president and CEO of the Painesville Credit Union. Finances are a major issue for all of us, and it's summertime in twenty twenty three. Let's get our finances together and see what we can do. Happy to have you this morning, Lorie. How are you? I'm great. Thank you so much for us. Can we to sit in on this? I'm very excited. Yeah, we're excited as well because finances and financial health is such an important part of our lives. And tell us a little bit about yourselves. About yourself, Laurie, we know that you are president and CEO of the Painesville Credit Union. How did you get into this? Well, it's actually kind of a funny story. I applied at the school system when my daughter went to school at five years old, and a friend of ours of the family worked at the school and she heard the credit union was looking for a teller, so she happened to call the CEO at the time and said, Hey, I know somebody who wants to work at the schools, but I think she'd be a better fit for you. So I actually got a phone call and came in for an interview. And that was twenty four years ago. That's impressive. You never know where things will lead you to. Just you took that first step, and I think that's a good lesson for all of us. Just keep you know, take that first step and God knows. God only knows where you'll end up. And tell us how important our personal finances. You're being CEO of a credit union. Personal finances are so important because they affect every single aspect of our life. They can affect where you live, they can affect the job you hold, they can affect your mental health. And one of the things that I love about credit unions is that we try to encompass that entire thought process. When we're helping somebody with their finances. It's not just about how much money you make or what happened and you couldn't pay that bill. There's a whole there's a whole realm of things that go into personal finances. And I think people get stuck in one thing. Oh, I was laid on that bill and I can't get out. And we like to take the whole picture, sit down, dissect it, and help you get straight and on the right path. So do you feel as though credit unions are more personal personal than some of the larger institutions. I absolutely do a lot of the large institutions. The first thing they do is pull your credit score and it's a yes or no. We can help you at the credit union. We want to hear your story. Things happen to people. We want to know what happened, why that? Okay, that happened. Well, if you do a B and C, we'll be able to help you with this. Or you know, that was a great windfall you suddenly had. Let's see the best way for you to utilize it. We just want to hear your story. Then we can make the finances personal for your situation. Oh that's awesome. So you being in Lake County, you're in the city of Painesville. Who can become a member of a credit union? Your credit union? Our credit union in particular, is a county charter. So anybody who lives, works, worships, or attends school in Lake County can join. It's five dollars to open your savings account. That is your sheriff of the credit union. Because every credit union member actually is an owner of the credit union. It's a financial cooperative. What are some of the benefits to belonging to your credit union? The pains will credit union benefits are numerous. We have the regular standard accounts, checking savings, money markets, certificates of deposit. But we do a lot with the financial counseling and financial education, and I think our personal service and our focus on financial education is what sets us apart. You don't pay to come in here and let us help you develop a budget. That's part of our service. We want you to do right, so we'll help you develop a budget. You don't have to pay us to help you rebuild your credit score. We sit down with you and make a plan on how to rebuild your credit score. So I think that's some of the better benefits of the credit union versus a bank. That's awesome. What are some of the programs that you have going on right now that are attractive or might be attractive to folks who are looking for a new place to thank well, we have our home banking and our mobile apps, those are standard. We are always keeping an eye on competitive rates, and I can tell you right now that for carloons and credit cards, our rates are some of the lowest ones you're going to find right now. We don't do mortgages in house or home equity lines in house right now. We don't have the expertise, but we have partnered with a great company and they have a large suite of loan options for anybody looking for a mortgage or a home equity line. So even if you come in and ask us about that, we're going to hook you up with them and walk through it with you. Okay, can you say, as a partner, how does that partnership work. The company we work with as mortgage center out of Michigan. They strictly service Credit Union members. So you come in, you say, Laurie, I'm looking for a mortgage, I want to buy a house. We send over referral, they reach out to you. We keep our fingers on the pulse of the whole situation. So if you ever have any questions and you don't feel like you're getting an answer, you can always come in here and we'll help you get the answer. But we've been with them about two years and it has been a wonderful relationship. So if there are folks that are looking to buy a home, they are in Lake County, it's a great opportunity to come in and speak with you or someone there at your credit union. Ze correct, yes, sir, Okay, that's awesome. Do you have like Christmas savings, summer savings? What about programs for young people? We do. We have a Christmas Club account. People love that they put a little bit of money away each pay and then come the first November we release it so they can handle their Christmas shopping. We have people who do that with their vacation, with their taxes. We love to have the young kids come in and open accounts. In April, we always celebrate Youth Month. We have drawings and giveaways, but they're welcome to come in any time. You can ask any of my members who have children. We always send them off with two seboxes and cookies. We have a free little library to focus, you know, to help bring the kids in and to keep them focused on the credit union. And I will tell you being here as long as I have it is so awesome to have a little kid come in and their parents says I remember when I was their age and you gave me two spots and cookies, and now my kids are coming here. That's awesome. Yeah, that's so. That makes banking or the credit union, should I say, a very special place in the hearts of those young kids that have actually had interacted interacted with people there. That's great. What are some things that you'd like to tell us as we close out here and how we can contact the credit union, how folks can get started? What would you tell us? Okay, I will tell you. I've got two things that I'm really proud of. I'll mention those real quick. One, we've been in business eighty one years. We've been in Painsville for eighty one years. I think that is phenomenal hometown right here. Two, I have families that have four generations banking here. I love that. I think that is phenomenal. If you want to come and see us, We're at two eighty North Saint Clair Street in Painesville, right across from the Paintsil Post Office. Stop in. I'm in the corner office. Tap on the door, say hey, I heard about you. I want to know more. I'll give you a tour. I'll get you a cup of coffee and we'll sit down and have a talk. If you want to check out our website, we're at Painesville SeeU dot org and we have a very active Facebook page and a lot of good stuff on there. Thank you so much, Laurie, and thank you to our audience for listening with us. And again we're focused on bringing a positive information so get your finances together, reach out to the Painesville's Credit Union. And again we thank you Laurie again for this very informative show, and we are going to ask our audience to just keep remembering to fight the good fight and let's remember we can all do better. Concluding with our finances, Thank you again, Laurie, and we're gonna have me back sometimes. Great. Thank you so much, and have a great day here as well. Wow wow wow wow. This has been a presentation of the FCP podcast Network, where real talk lifts. Visit us online at FCB Podcasts dot com.
