During much of the twentieth century, North Carolina was home to the largest textile company in the world: Burlington Industries. BI started in 1923, when a young veteran named J. Spencer Love established a textile plant in Burlington, NC. Eventually the company moved to Greensboro and built satellite facilities in a number of locations around the state.
As the business grew, company leaders realized their employees could benefit from affordable financial services and loans offered by a credit union. In the late 1970s, BI created the Burlington Employees Federal Credit Union.
When the textile industry began to shrink in the U.S., the credit union adapted to the times by expanding its services to the wider community. In 1988, it became Choice Federal Credit Union, led by CEO Martha Miller. Later, in 2002, the name was modified to Choice Community Credit Union.
This video features interviews from Ms. Miller, Park Davidson (BI executive and Choice board member), Carol Lyles (BI employee and credit union member) and credit union staffers Lavern Coley and Susan Padgett. They all echo the same theme: the credit union has always been like a tight-knit family.