DUBLIN, Ohio — After 10 years in this Columbus suburb, the Ohio Credit Union System is relocating its headquarters to downtown Columbus to help enhance its image with lawmakers.

“Our move indeed is part of our overall public advocacy program,” said a league spokesman.

The 20 league employees are slated to officially move into new office space in the One Columbus Center next week with many staffers already occupying temporary quarters in the building located directly across from the state capitol building.

The relocation from Dublin has been in the works for nearly a year climaxed by the sale six months ago of the league's building to one of its tenants, a computer consulting firm.

“Our goal has always been first and foremost to convey a message to legislators about the credit union importance in the financial community,” said the spokesman. The Ohio move follows a trend by state leagues elsewhere to get closer to seats of state power with one of the most recent being the Oklahoma League's plans in 2009 to move from Tulsa to Oklahoma City.