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Self-Help Credit Union

DuPont Employees Credit Union: A Mountain Legacy

DuPont Employees Credit Union
at a Glance

Original Name: 
DuPont Employees Credit Union,
later Carolina Mountains Credit Union

Founder: 
DuPont Brevard Plant

Year Founded:
1974

Year of Merger with Self-Help Credit Union:
2009

Original Founding Location:
Cedar Mountain, NC (near Brevard)

Part of Self-Help’s history goes back to 1956, when DuPont purchased land to start the nation’s first silicon plant in Brevard, North Carolina. The company evolved over the years, at one time employing 1500 people. Employees formed tight bonds during that era. As one way to help each other, they formed a credit union that became Carolina Mountains Credit Union and, more recently, Self-Help Credit Union. This is the story of a community where bonds remain strong, and a mission of economic opportunity continues as a key part of the legacy.

 

Related Content

Photo of Connie Corn at Dupont CU offices later to become Carolina Mountains.
A Spirit of Caring and Community: A Mountain Legacy

Current Self-Help employee Connie Corn shares her thoughts in telling the story of DuPont Employees Credit Union's legacy:

"When I received the assignment to produce the DuPont Employees Credit Union legacy documentary, I was excited but somewhat overwhelmed with the challenge to fit their story in a seven-minute video. How could I tell the history of the credit union without first telling the story of the unique employee group who started it?"

More on Connie's experience with DuPont Employees Credit Union.
Photo Gallery
1999 photo of DuPont Employees Credit Union charter board members. (Left to right) Bob Cantrell, Bill Griffin, Margaret Garren, Charlie Greene, Don Surrette and Jack Hall

1999 photo of DuPont Employees Credit Union charter board members. (Left to right) Bob Cantrell, Bill Griffin, Margaret Garren, Charlie Greene, Don Surrette and Jack Hall

Carolina Mountains Credit Union employee Patricia Foxx Norton. CMCU created a scholarship in her honor after she passed away.

Carolina Mountains Credit Union employee Patricia Foxx Norton. CMCU created a scholarship in her honor after she passed away.

A landscape view of the DuPont plant from the 80s.

Brevard, NC DuPont Plant mid-1980s

A group of credit union board members in the 70s gather around a table for a photo

An early meeting of the DuPont Employees Credit Union board, circa 1977. (Left to right) John Hoxit, Libby Light, Becky McDaris, Dana Mason, next unknown, standing unknown, Grady Fortune and David George