OKLAHOMA CITY – Federal Employees Credit Union, which lost half its staff and its headquarters in the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, is embarking on its first major expansion in four years with plans to open as many as five new branches over the next two to three years. Recalling its "legacy" to the 18 employees killed in the April 19, 1995 blast, the $120 million FECU said it was moving ahead now with branch development to underscore its "strength and stability by overcoming the devastation" wreaked by the tragedy. Under a new community charter granted last January, FECU said its first new branch would be opened in downtown Oklahoma City in November with a full service facility in suburban Edmond by the summer of 2003. "We have plans to add new branches in south Oklahoma City and the Norman area within the next two to three years as growth and net income allow," said Lynette Leonard, president and CEO. Ground was broken Aug. 9 for the Edmond branch, to have 4,750 square feet, six drive-thru lanes and an ATM. The initial two branches are part of an expansion program "that will extend our services throughout the greater Oklahoma City area," said FECU. The expansion project, said FECU, reflects a culmination of recent "restoration" efforts and underscores how the expansion "would bring great pride to those we lost who served so selflessly" to serve the CU's 18,000 member base. "That is the heritage we want to preserve from our past," noted Leonard. Following the bombing, the CU moved into temporary quarters set up in a Tinker Federal Credit Union branch. In 1998, FECU reopened its headquarters office in north Oklahoma City. It retains a branch in an office building not far from the Murrah memorial site. Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremonies was FECU's chairman, Robert Elliott, a long-time Edmond resident, who told attendees he "takes great pride in bringing FECU to the Edmond community." Leonard noted that at the time of the 1995 bombing, the CU had assets of $77 million, witnessing a steady growth over the years. She said the CU is now developing a branding campaign having hired a local advertising agency "to identify our core values" as the CU tries to "understand how we want to position our credit union for the future." [email protected]