SJCU Dangriga Branch Increases Membership  

Saint John’s Credit Union in Dangriga is boasting spanking new offices. The branch opened its doors to Dangriga residents a little over a decade ago, and now it has moved into its own building. President of the Board of Directors, Alvan Haynes, explained what this means for its members in the Culture Capital.

 

Alvan Haynes, President, Board of Directors, S.J.C.U.

“We’re now at a membership of over 5, 500 in Dangriga, Stann Creek District. And we purchased a property some years ago and got it renovated, completely redone for, for our self-owned branch office. So this was the inauguration of our very own office that we now own. So we’ve moved from renting to  establishing a permanent base in Dangriga town.  It means obviously there’s, there’s a removal of rental costs. Ownership obviously also has responsibilities and liabilities. You’ve got to maintain your own building, pay taxes, et cetera. But, it means that we don’t need to undergo that concern that we’ll outgrow the building or we will need to ask for upgrades or extensions on the building because it’s now ours. We’ve planned for growth. We have the ability to, expand the building upwards as, as in the future, if required, we can also now invest in things like, um, our own backup generator to continue operations in cases of extended blackouts without having to require landlord’s permission to put permanent structures, etc. So, the overall feeling is one of comfort out.”