Company helps people manage financial challenges

Preston Cochrane knows, probably better than any entrepreneur ever, that there's a market for the services he is providing.

As president and chief executive officer of the Salt Lake City-based AAA Fair Credit Foundation, Cochrane operates in Utah — a state that has ranked first in the nation for households filing bankruptcy, in the top 10 for mortgage foreclosure and near the bottom for per-capita income.

Cochrane wants to change as much of that as he can, believing that, with proper education and instruction, people can manage their financial challenges and avoid many common problems.

As a college student, Cochrane spent a summer working at a law firm and saw client after client devastated by financial problems.

In 1997, Cochrane started his foundation with three partners and a simple goal: improve people's long-term financial security.

The organization partners with five local nonprofit organizations. These organizations provide in-kind office space that allows FCF to perform free, on-site, in-person financial counseling all along the Wasatch Front. The company is a co-founder of the Utah Saves campaign, which helps people of all income levels build savings to reach financial goals.

This year, FCF launched an innovative pilot program targeting consumer debt repayment, as an alternative to commercial debt settlement or bankruptcy.

The company's results are dramatic and measurable: FCF clients in debt management plans file bankruptcy at a rate that is almost 44 percent lower than people who do not enter a plan; and clients who receive counseling that enables them to avoid filing for bankruptcy see, on average, a 7 percent improvement in their credit scores.

Cochrane also is starting early to educate Utahns about financial matters: He was instrumental in the passage, in 2004, of legislation that requires high school students to take a personal-finance course before graduation. He also helped develop the course curriculum, now taught at every Utah high school.

That success led Cochrane to create a website, www.financeintheclassroom.org, that offers free online financial literacy resources for K-12 teachers, students and parents.