INDIANAPOLIS -
Seventy-seven years after being established to protect the Lilly community from "street lenders" during the Great Depression, the Eli Lilly Federal Credit Union is expanding beyond its five traditional campus-based branches to a new facility located within the Farm Bureau Building in downtown Indianapolis.
Up until a few months ago, ELFCU members needed to go through Lilly security and make sure they got to the CU's branch before it closed at 3:30 p.m. Getting to one of the original five branches wasn't so difficult if you were a Lilly employee. But as ELFCU's field of membership began to grow, it became more and more important to expand accessibility- especially to retirees, family members and contract employees.
With this in mind, ELFCU saw a unique set of challenges in trying to reach out to the greater community and attract more family members and Lilly contract employees who were eligible but did not necessarily have easy access to the five existing Lilly-based branches.
"Attracting family members and contract employees can be difficult due to security and parking," ELFCU marketing communications manager Michelle Payne said. "We wanted to make it easier for members to have access to parking and for those working late hours to have face-to-face expanded branch hours."
When the opportunity presented itself, the single-source $707-million CU saw the chance to deliver on its commitment to better serve its more than 32,000 members by leasing space on the first floor of the Farm Bureau Building.
Locating the new branch in the Farm Bureau Building was a no-brainer for ELFCU officials because its administrative offices were already located on the third floor and it was only two blocks from the nearest branch located at the Lilly Corporate Center.
At about 960 square feet of space, the new branch is smaller than other campus-based branches but what it lacks in size, it makes up for in convenience, ambiance and service.
Members simply sign in at the front desk of the FBB and proceed to the branch. No appointments are necessary for daily transactions, although it is necessary to arrange appointments for mortgage or loan closings and meetings with MAS or LCU.
"So far, [members] are all really happy with accessibility and parking at the new branch," Payne added.
Part living room and part art gallery, the new branch does not have typical teller windows. Instead, tellers sit in small offices, which give members a one-on-one personalized environment to conduct transactions. There is a seated waiting area complete with a plasma monitor and leather chairs and even a conference room for small meetings.
"It's now a quicker process that's designed to be more relaxed," Payne said. "We wanted it to be personalized and friendly when you see your teller."
Payne added that they wanted to get away from the traditional antiseptic feel of a bank lobby by designing the new branch with more of an at-home feel. Noticeably missing are the traditional velvet ropes. Instead, works of inspirational art line the walls.
One painting depicts a tall oak tree rising toward the sky with the word "strength" written across the canvas. Another painting has the word "growth" spread atop the image.
"We wanted to stand out. The windows face the atrium so we wanted members to associate the branch with green, which is also in keeping with our brand color," said Kelly Turner, ELFCU assistant vice president of marketing.
Turner, who supervised the entire project, said it took just three months to complete from the time they got the keys to moving the last piece of furniture in. She had the opportunity to use designers for the projected but decided against it.
"We interviewed several designers but wanted to put our own fingerprint on it and decided to keep it internal," she said.
As part of the grand opening a few months ago, ELFCU celebrated the milestone by hosting "ThinkBIG" week. The series of events included a lunch in the parking lot, an ice cream social, an iPod giveaway and a "mocktail" party where a $100 ThinkBIG account was awarded every 15 minutes. (c) 2007 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com
