BRANDON, Vt. -
Heritage Family Credit Union is all fired up about its newest branch location.
And as well they should be, since the CU is transforming the old firehouse in downtown Brandon into its ninth location.
"We won the bid," explained Matt Levandowski, vice president of marketing and branch operations for the $156 million credit union. "It was a disclosed bid. We put in what we thought was fair-market value. And the city accepted it."
The firehouse, which was built in the late 1800s, will now be filled with a three-person staff, and hopefully lots of new members, Levandowski said, in addition to current members who reside in the Brandon area who often ask for a downtown branch. In all, the CU has 23,000 members at present.
"One of goals has always been to move in the Brandon market," Levandowski said. "This is a new area for us to be in."
But it's no secret to the Brandon community that Heritage FCU will soon be making a new home there.
"There's a buzz up there because we're coming to town," Levandowski said. "It's been in all of the local papers. We have a little ad that says 'Hang In There' with a mountain climber."
The new branch will provide all of the services that the other six regular branches, and two student branches at the local high schools, include, except it will not have a drive-up, since it's a downtown location, Levandowski explained.
The branch is expected to be up and running by March 2008, and most of the staff is set, with a new member financial-service representative already hired, and plans to transfer a branch manager who lives in Brandon from one of the CU's other locations.
Levandowski said the 2,200 square-foot-with two floors-firehouse-look will remain intact.
"We're taking out the three garage doors, and putting in a simulated garage door, one that simulates the old rounded arches that used to be there. They had to take those older ones to accommodate the new larger, trucks," Levandowski explained. "Unfortunately it doesn't have a pole. It has stairs."
"It's a quaint little building," he continued. "We want to take it back to this look. There is a lot of history behind that building that we've been learning about since we bought it."
The credit union also plans on placing historic photos in the lobby to "keep that firehouse charm," Levandowski said. (c) 2007 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com
