Welcome to Credit Union Conversations! This week, we kick off an exciting new series focused on the relationship between credit unions and small business owners. Host Mark Ritter is joined by Nathan Crouch from Erie Federal Credit Union and one of their standout business members, Joseph Markiewicz. Together, they’ll explore the ins and outs of the lending process, from the challenges business owners face to the qualities they value most in their financial partners. Tune in as they discuss real-world experiences, share insights on what credit unions can do better, and highlight how these partnerships drive success for local businesses. Today, we're heading to Northwest Pennsylvania to spotlight Erie Federal Credit Union—don’t miss it!

IN THIS EPISODE:

• [3:11] Nathan explains his role at the credit union 
• [6:24] Joe explains how he decided to go into business for himself
• [15:29] Why Joe made the switch to managing a wedding venue
• [19:41] Nathan describes how the credit union assisted with Joe’s small business plan
• [21:35] Joe’s relationship with the credit union and why he trusts them
• [26:13] Nathan sees a growth outlook for small business in his area, and Joe offers advice to other entrepreneurs 

KEY TAKEAWAYS: 

• A key takeaway from the discussion on financing the wedding venue is the value of strong relationships between members and their credit unions. Nathan Crouch highlights the importance of detailed planning, including business plans and cash flow projections, when evaluating unique loan requests like this one. The credit union's willingness to collaborate and leverage community resources reflects its adaptability and commitment to supporting members' entrepreneurial ventures. The members' loyalty to the credit union stems from competitive lending rates, excellent customer service, and open, honest communication with their financial advisors.
• The outlook for the small business environment is optimistic and growth-oriented. Despite the typical seasonal slowdown in commercial lending during the fourth quarter, there has been robust loan demand. This indicates that business owners remain confident in the economic conditions and actively pursue growth opportunities. Credit union employees see this as a positive sign, reflecting a robust mindset among local entrepreneurs and a willingness to invest in their businesses despite external challenges.
• It is critical to start with strategic planning and balance. Instead of constantly chasing growth, small businesses should focus on achieving efficiency, streamlining processes, and aligning goals with personal priorities. Learning from the successes of others, taking educated risks backed by thorough research, and being open to feedback from trusted sources. Joe’s approach underscores that success often comes from leveraging proven ideas and maintaining a clear sense of purpose rather than attempting to reinvent the wheel.

RESOURCE LINKS: 

Mark Ritter - Website

Mark Ritter - LinkedIn

Edinboro Storage Center - Website

Country Elegance Venue - Website

BIOGRAPHIES: 

Joe Markiewicz is the owner of a wedding venue in Erie, PA.

Nathan heads up business lending at Erie FCU.

CUC - Ep 72 - Member Success Story With Erie FCU - Joesph Markiewicz and Nathan Crouch

Mark Ritter: Hello, this is Mark Ritter, your host of Credit Union Conversations and CEO. CEO of MBFS, and many times I get the question, what is MBFS? You meet somebody new, you have some chit chat and they say, Oh, what do you do for a living? And, you know, MBFS is a company that's owned by credit unions and we support their lending and we support their business members.

Um, and that's kind of the technical story for what we do. And sometimes I have a simpler answer when people say, what do you do? Um, but really what we do is we try to help small businesses succeed. When I was at a credit union, it was nothing prouder than driving by and being out in the community and seeing a business succeeding that you helped start out or help them grow, or you have a nice relationship with.

So hopefully you enjoy this. Uh, in our first show today, we are heading out to Northwest Pennsylvania out to Erie Federal Credit Union today. And joining me is Nate Crouch from Erie Federal Credit Union. Nate, how you doing today? Hey, Mark, real good. All right. And also Joe Markowitz, one of Erie's Federal Credit Union's fine business members.

Joe, thanks for joining us today.

Joesph Markiewicz: Hey, thank you, Mark. Nice to be here.

Go hop right ahead.

Nathan Crouch: Yeah. Again, thank you, Mark, for the invitation to your podcast today. And yeah, I am Nathan crouch and I work for Erie fell credit union. I am the VP of business lending here and a commercial lending officer. I've been in the banking industry. Oh, this is about my 31st year. And I've been here at the credit union for going on 11 years plus.

And, uh, I also, I have to make sure I mentioned that I have a remarkable staff, uh, currently of four that's really supportive of all the things that we do here.

And, uh, then we'll hop into a little bit of the business.

Joesph Markiewicz: Sure. And thank you. And again, thanks for inviting me on today. I'm happy to share a little bit about my story and how that fits into the, to the credit union. Um, so I grew up in Northwestern Pennsylvania, um, and typical November fashion, where we're just dodging a few snowflakes here today.

Um, and, uh, grew up here, uh, went to a local high school, played a lot of different sports, uh, while I was in high school, um, thought about playing sports in college, but thought it was more important to, to get a good degree at Penn State Barron here in Erie, and, uh, graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering.

Mark Ritter: So Nate set you up because he didn't tell me and prep me that you were a fellow Penn Stater like me.

So yes, we are a proud Penn State family. And, uh, usually if you listen to, uh, any of the shows in the past that usually, and we usually football sports, Penn State gets weaved into about half the shows.

Joesph Markiewicz: That's, uh, you know, we, uh, we're very proud of the team this year. You know, the football team, we, uh, We'll take our one loss and we'll move forward into the playoffs here and we'll see what happens.

Mark Ritter: Absolutely. So, and I have actually received a blessing, uh, from the wife that I am going to be traveling through, uh, so till the very end and how far they go.

So go ahead.

Joesph Markiewicz: Yeah. So. Um, for us, when I say us, my wife and I, you know, we, um, very early on in our, in our lives when we were, uh, even before we were married, you know, we had strong, clear goals about, you know, what we wanted to do throughout our life. Um, you know, after marriage and hopefully having some kids and.

And, uh, We, we had family members that had had other rental properties that they would, uh, you know, kind of share stories of, of tenants and, and investing and, you know, different strategies. And so we kind of joined that, um, idea, you know, kind of seeing the benefits of. Of ownership, but being able to provide housing and, and kind of what that looks like, um, you know, 10, 20, 30 years down the road.

And, and so, you know, over time we were able to, you know, adjust the rent and, you know, kind of find the right folks and, and that's allowed us to get really good tenants. And so, you know, a few years later, um, good friend of mine, his parents were retiring and. They were like, Hey, do you want to buy this multi unit apartment building from us?

And, uh, and we kind of talked through the steps and what it would look like and what the structure would look like. And, uh, we were able to purchase that property next and, uh, [00:09:00] kind of. Take the initial concept of, um, you know, providing housing and ownership and move that forward to. You know, on a slightly larger scale going from a two unit to.

And, uh, that property has been very successful. Um, we have a lot of great tenants and kind of use the same idea moving forward with, um, you know, if somebody moves out, you know, we will go in and make some updates and try to get the best folks in there that were a good fit for that, uh, for that location.

It was a storage unit facility and 34 acres. And so, um, we kind of got engaged on that. Um, got the bank's opinion, talked to Nate and like, Hey, Nate, here's what we're thinking. You know, what are your thoughts? And, you know, that open communication was really helpful for us to look at, um, Not only something that we wanted to try, but something that, you know, is this a good idea?

Um, and we know that the credit union is there to support us to do that as well.

Mark Ritter: Oh, right. That, that, that is great. And isn't there something, uh, the wedding go, the wedding venue as well in this whole,

Joesph Markiewicz: yep. So that's our latest venture. Um, and our newest property, um, just about a year ago, it'll be a year ago tomorrow.

So by the time this airs, we will have owned, um, a wedding venue property for sure. Uh, just about a year and, uh, we were at a family function and, uh, my wife's parents, uh, our local realtors here that, that we use and respect and trust. And, uh, we were at Sunday lunch with her family after church and, uh, just, there were some talking in between folks and they were saying, Hey, do you want to buy a party barn?

And, uh, so we said, Hey, what the heck, let's go check it out. Let's. It's their listing. We'll go take a tour. We'll, you know, and in my head, you know, something like this, you know, party barn, well, barn. Okay. Well, what are we talking? Is it, is that a nice barn? Is it a small barn? Like, so we went out there and, uh, I kind of thought in my head while I was driving out there with my wife, you know, I said, Hey, I think we're going to get in there and we're going to look at this barn.

The previous owners had already hung three beautiful chandeliers that were assembled piece by piece. Um, the floor is steel reinforced concrete. And, uh, they had just started framing out. A section, uh, for a kitchen and brand new restrooms. So to my surprise, uh, this barn, uh, had tremendous potential, um, that, that we saw.

And so, you know, we, of course, uh, I made a phone call to, uh, to Mr. Crouch and I was like, all right, Nate, you know, here's, here's our next project. Here's what we're thinking. And, uh, and this one was probably the most challenging yet, because. Not only did we have a, just a purchase involved, but we also had, you know, a renovation.

Mark Ritter: So, I have a few questions. Some of which evolve around the lending process and some of which I'm not as curious about. So, you had apartment units, you had storage units, you fill the units, you say thank you, you collect rents every month, every once in a while the toilet clogs and you got to fix something and do those types of things.

Do you have a management manager for that? Because. You have a pretty busy life with the kids and the other businesses. How does the management of that venue work out?

Joesph Markiewicz: Yeah. So as you could imagine, and as you're alluding to, you know, it is from a time standpoint, the challenge and, and getting into it, we honestly didn't know exactly what that would look like either.

It's, it's something local to the community, the community that people. I can talk a little bit more about this, but has been a huge success even in year one. So, uh, to go back to your question, um, how do we deal with the clientele versus more of maybe a passive income with providing housing or storage for folks?

Um, we didn't really know what to expect right away. Um, but we did have, uh, somebody who helps us, um, a neighbor down the street who was very good friends with the sellers. Her daughter was the first wedding in that barn a few years ago, and she, because she grew up with, um, the previous owners, she wanted to stay engaged.

Mark Ritter: So this is what I'm also curious about. You have a wedding venue in Erie, Pennsylvania, occasionally. It snows in Erie every once in a while. How do you handle the, and you said you're open all year round, right?

Joesph Markiewicz: Yeah. So we, because of the timing of the purchase and doing the renovations and getting up and running this spring, we don't have a ton of bookings like right now, to be honest, January, February, March, we don't have any events.

I think the real test to answer your question will be next winter. Um, you know, how many weddings will we get in that core winter time? Um, but we do have, we do have plans to, you know, to plow and to, uh, you know, to be there to make sure that transition. Um, from getting there to getting inside, um, is a, is a smooth one.

Mark Ritter: All right, Nate and Joe, don't tell my wife this, but if I get invited to a January wedding in Erie, I'm looking for every reason not to go.

That's just between us. Go ahead.

Mark Ritter: a little help, a little bit more calmer there.

So, all right. So, so Nate, what, you know, it sounds like Joe has been a pretty, uh, good member, Joe and his wife. They're pretty good member. You know, what, what do you, what, what was your initial thought when somebody calls you up and says, Hey, we're going to buy a wedding venue, uh, when you have a lot of, uh, customers.

A lot of, uh, loans and relationships, it's already there.

Nature, the wedding venue would be able to cash flow, um, year one, year two, year three, and just what was going to be different. And, you know, what, I guess one thing to know about this is that Joe alluded to it, that this. Barn that he purchased a small wedding venue already in, in process, but was not on a scale that Joe and his wife designed in their business plan.

Mark Ritter: So, Joe, it sounds, you mentioned you were, you've been a member of Erie for a while.

Tell me a little bit about the shopping for a loan process. You know, it's sometimes do you shop around, do you have some different relationships and really what, what, what do you look for and want from that partner in your business? Who who's your lender and financial services provider?

Joesph Markiewicz: Yeah. So we've been extremely, extremely loyal to the credit union for, for quite a while.

And so, you know, fast forward to when my wife and I bought our first home back in, uh, 2012. Uh, we shopped around, you know, talk to different local banks, different branches in our, in our town here. And, uh, it just seemed like the credit union had the best rates and the best customer service. And so our first mortgage went to, uh, to EFCU.

And then since then, I mean, we, we'd shopped around a little bit, but you know, truthfully, from a, from a bottom line standpoint, the rates are pretty unbeatable or equivalent. And, you know, we, we trust the local staff at the credit union. Um, we've always had great communication with them and, and they've always had a willingness to help us and, you know, have that dialogue.

In our trust with them and and us being a longtime member so You've

Those lenders and people listening, I don't want this as a small business owner. This annoys me, you know, stop it. Like tell us where, where we screw up or where people screw up with you trying to win your business.

Joesph Markiewicz: Yeah. I would say, you know, occasionally we'll get, you know, cold calls from other banks or, you know, people trying to, To, to nudge in and get some of our business.

And, you know, for us, you know, the big word is trust. We, we have a lot of trust with the credit union and, um, you know, really it's for us, it's like, why would we go anywhere else? And so I think, you know, personally it's, it's about that, um, you know, that, that, that relationship early on for us, it's, it's been, you know, sure.

So that's kind of a hard question to answer, but. I would say, you know, being a constant presence in the community, um, you know, at, at local events, um, so that you're relevant to, and kind of staying in touch and being relevant to what some other small businesses need, um, you know, especially through the pandemic there, the needs have, have changed and, uh, and there's certain challenges with that.

So I think just, you know, being a constant presence, being helpful. Things like that.

Um, you know, what, what's your outlook on, on, on, on what you're seeing for the small business environment?

Nathan Crouch: Um, yeah. So I think the outlook from All the things that I read and interacting with the local businesses, like Joe and his wife, and then just our membership, our business owners, the outlook is. Very much positive.

So I think that speaks to where, uh, the minds and what actions business owners are taking. Right now they're very, they're being very active in the lending space and, you know, Mark, you and I know from the business, you know, businesses don't tend to borrow if they start getting uncomfortable with economic conditions.

So generally I say the outlook is very strong for the next year or two.

Um, what's your advice for these, for entrepreneurs wanting to start a business, grow a business, uh, as, as some of your life lessons that you've learned over the last several years?

Joesph Markiewicz: Yeah. Thank you for that question, because I think that we certainly have. Been in kind of a, a timeframe where we've had rapid growth and we've seen a lot of good success, but sometimes that does come with, uh, you know, certain challenges and, uh, you know, for us, we're at a point where we're comfortably busy, we, we're not really looking to grow anymore right now.

They, you know, you know, They, they couldn't do a lot of the things that we could do as a family together. We were mostly at home. So while a lot of our businesses were growing and becoming successful, um, you know, as a family, we've hit a point where, you know, our kids are now, you know, they're running cross country, they're doing soccer and we want to be able to do those things with them.

So we've hit a tipping point where, you know, my goal moving forward is to be as involved with my family as I can. And so, you know, like I said, becoming more efficient and streamlining these things. Um, you know, that's our goal at the current time, um, making sure our priorities are straight. Um, but some of the things we, you know, we've learned along the way, um, number one, listen to the people that are closest to you, you know, you're, you.

But I think that, you know, we have to look at, you know, the successes of others and ask them questions and, you know, really, really listen to their answers. Um, that's really important. And I think for us, it's always been about taking educated risks. Um, You know, you do your research, you plan it out. Um, Nate can tell you I'm a very analytical person.

Um, especially our latest venture with this wedding barn venue. I was very nervous about, you know, there were so many different areas where this thing could, you know, become extremely challenging. And luckily with the time that we took to plan it out, we kind of followed the plan that we put together. And, uh, minus a few little hiccups, which were not significant.

Um, it's been, you know, very successful and that was a big relief to me. So I think, you know, overall, you know, we don't have to reinvent the wheel. We don't have to come up with brand new ideas. I think if we look around the community and other successful people, whether it's friends, family, people in the community or church, we can look and see, you know, what qualities make people successful, what, you know, what business ideas and what risks did they take and how did it work out?

Mark Ritter: Joe, you're an American success story, uh, that you should be, you, your family, and your wife should be very proud of. Um, this is, you know, how we build America with, uh, small business people like yourself.

Um, so, uh, give yourself a plug. We're going to have everybody in Erie listen to this and all over nationwide. So, uh, you know, just tell people where they could connect with you online if they're interested in property storage units or want to get hitched and looking for a great venue.

Joesph Markiewicz: Yeah. So thank you for the opportunity to put in a personal plug here.

Lots of great pictures, lots of great information on there. And you can also, you know, hit the contact us form to get in touch with us. And, uh, you know, I would say for, for anybody who's listening, um, you know, whether you're not getting married or looking for storage, if you're just looking for, you know, you heard something in here that, that happened to, uh, strike a nerve or had a question, you know, we'd be happy to have that conversation.

Mark Ritter: Absolutely. I'm going to kick it over to Nate here. Nate, uh, tell people how they can get connected with, uh, Erie Federal Credit Union. If they're, uh, particularly interested in talking to you about that. Their business or just, uh, they need a mortgage in general or anything.

Nathan Crouch: Yeah. Thanks, Mark. And thanks again for the opportunity to be on here.

Mark Ritter: All right. And, uh, so joining me today was Joe Markowitz.

Uh, he's an entrepreneur with, with his wife out there in Erie, Pennsylvania and Nate Crouch, who heads up the business services team at Erie Federal Credit Union. And, and, and I really, you know, this, this. They have a great story, and I really wanted to put, bring these guys in here, and we'll have a few more episodes like this so you can hear the importance of what we do, what matters to people, the relationship matters, and the impact that we can make in communities.

Narrator: Thank you for listening to the Credit Union Conversations podcast. Have a question? Visit markritter. com for more information.