NH’s Top Women-Led Nonprofit: (#25) Granite State Credit Union

In 2025, Granite State Credit Union will celebrate its 80th anniversary—and its CEO has been part of half its history. Denise Barstow started her career at Granite State Credit union in 1983 and for the past 34 years has led the credit union as president and CEO.

The credit union was originally started as a financial institution for utility workers and bus drivers in Manchester. Today it has grown to more than 50,000 NH members with 150 employees.

Barstow says the credit union’s success is due to being guided by its values of integrity, respect, and service and developing a corporate culture that supports employees. (The credit union was named among the Best Companies to Work For by Business NH Magazine.) “We make our members a priority,” she says.

Barstow knows firsthand the importance of the company culture for developing and retaining employees. A NH native who grew up on a farm, Barstow was only the second member of her family to graduate from college. She attended courses at night to earn her accounting degree while working as a teller at Granite State Credit Union during the day, tapping into credit union’s tuition reimbursement program. After graduating college, she rose up the ranks until she reached the top.

Under Barstow’s leadership, Granite State Credit Union has grown from $18 million in assets to $710 million, and from a second-floor space in downtown Manchester to opening eight branches. The credit union has also been investing in technology to allow members to access their information and services when and how they want.

She says serving members and mentoring employees are the most satisfying parts of her job. “They are relying on you to help make their dreams come true,” Barstow says of members. “We do a lot of credit counseling so they can improve their credit and can eventually buy that car or house.”

“We want to be an institution that is there for [members] on their financial journey. Each person has a story and it’s important to listen to that story, so you get it right when you are serving them,” she says. “Every interaction matters.”