Displaced Shell CU Reopens New Orleans Office

NEW ORLEANS – In another sign of recovery from Hurricane Katrina, the $80-million Shell New Orleans Federal Credit Union formally returns to its home headquarters, Monday Dec. 5 with a reopening of full services at its main downtown office. As one of the displaced Louisiana CUs, Shell NOFCU had been operating in temporary quarters on the premises of the $290 million People’s Trust FCU of Houston. Following the partial re-opening of Shell Oil Co.’s once flooded downtown facility in November, the New Orleans CU has managed to offer limited hours and service to its Louisiana members. Some 25 Shell NOFCU employees had been relocated to Houston apartments and homes following the Aug. 29 disaster, “but now we expect most will return on Dec. 5 except for a couple who will stay on in Houston to take care of our members there,” said Mary Boudreux, vice president of accounting. Boudreaux said the staff of Peoples “has been wonderful to us” and the Houston CU continues to process checks at Shell NOFCU’s two Houston offices. “We want to continue to serve those people in Houston that still need us,” said Boudreaux. In mid-November the One Shell Square office of Shell NOFCU began operating on limited hours from 10 to 2 p.m. “and we were not taking loan applications.” All that will change on Dec. 5, she said, at which time the CU hopes to hire new employees to replace staffers who chose not to return to New Orleans.