Nearly a year after the sod was turned on a new, bigger location for Rosenort Credit Union's (RCU) Altona branch, officials and dignitaries gathered on Thursday to cut the ribbon on the 2,000-plus square foot building.
"It definitely came together quickly and we're really happy with the end result," said Marcus Enns, President of the RCU Board of Directors, at the grand opening. "I think the intent was to have obviously a bright space. We have a lot of white in this space. We wanted to be very inviting from that perspective to go with the outside of the building decor as well. We kind of had wanted to have open windows so people could look in and see the people working here and they could see feel like it's private enough, but also it's an open inviting space for members to come in and to meet with the staff here."
Enns added, there's about five or six energetic staff working at the branch ready to help members with their financial needs. RCU currently has between 6,000 and 7,000 between its three branches located in Rosenort, Altona and Winkler.
The new branch, located at 306 Centre Ave., offers much more room compared to the previous location on 4th Ave. NE.
"I think our old space, that we've had since 2011, we were finding it a little small," said Enns. "Originally when we moved here, we were kind of seeing it as let's try it out, let's see how it goes and see if we can serve the community well and grow a membership here. So, I think we kind of took the space that was sort of not necessarily perfect for our needs, but something that we could move into and start our expansion here in Altona."
Now, in 2023, Enns says RCU is growing its assets in Altona and the Board felt more space was needed.
With a belief of helping members help themselves, Enns explained this new, bigger location will help RCU continue to grow as it always has - organically. He said that's what sets RCU apart.
"We want to kind of come alongside them and help them, not necessarily feeling like we're dictating things to them, but kind of working with them. So, when they come for a loan or for whatever reason, we want to look at the big picture and see how we can make this work for you as opposed to looking at some very stringent financial requirements and saying if you check the box or not," he explained. "And I think credit unions in general, bigger seems to be better is the slogan you hear a lot and a lot of mergers taking place. We're kind of going a little bit against that trend. We want to grow organically and slowly and build our members, but keep our cooperative routes, which I think is important as well."
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