Steinbach Credit Union announces site of new branch
Steinbach Credit Union announced that a major milestone has been achieved in its plans to build a new branch and corporate head office in Steinbach, Manitoba when it unveiled the site for its new building. The new building will be located along Main Street, on the property between Steinbach Place and Lumber Avenue.
“I am pleased to announce that the new branch and corporate office will be on Main Street, just down the block from our current location,” said Ted Falk, SCU Board President. “As a town grandfather and significant member of the Steinbach business community, it is important for SCU to remain in the heart of Steinbach”.
Planning for the new branch and corporate head office has been underway for some time. “We had several site location options to consider,” stated Glenn Friesen, CEO. “And in the end, we made our decision with the impact to our members and the community top-of-mind.”
One option the credit union considered was to build on its existing site. “Physically relocating the credit union during construction at our existing site would have presented great challenges. It would have been an inconvenience for our members, extremely expensive, and challenging logistically,” continued Friesen. “We believe our new site location will provide the benefits of a clean build from the ground up, without service interruption.”
The Steinbach Credit Union Board’s vision for the new building is to amalgamate the branch and corporate head office functions. “When we began operations in 1941, we had 95 members and member assets under $1,000,” said Falk. “Today, we are Manitoba’s largest credit union with over 80,000 members and over $3.4 Billion in member assets. In order to gain efficiencies, we’d like to see all of our 297 Steinbach employees under one roof.” Currently, the corporate office functions are housed in seven separate satellite locations throughout Steinbach.
Negotiations to secure ownership of the five properties located between Steinbach Place and Lumber Avenue concluded last night. A memorandum of understanding with the City of Steinbach is in place, and final legal agreements ensuring the successful site transition are anticipated without undue delay. Plans for the new building are still being finalized and construction is expected to commence in spring 2012.
“This is an exciting new chapter for SCU. We know that our new branch and corporate office will make SCU members and the city of Steinbach proud,” said Falk.
