San Mateo Credit Union recently marked its 60th anniversary with a reception for members and local dignitaries at the San Mateo County History Museum.
Magda Gonzales, chairwoman of SMCU's board of directors, welcomed the crowd to the event, expressing the credit union's pleasure in providing residents with a diversity of financial services designed to help improve the quality of life. Then Barry Jolette, SMCU's president/CEO, shared the history of SMCU's humble beginnings and took those in attendance on a brief journey of the credit union's progress over the past 60 years.
"In 1952," stated Jolette, "a small group of San Mateo County employees created an all-volunteer organization to meet the financial needs of county workers. Called the San Mateo County Employees' Credit Union, its first office was a former broom closet in this very building, which was then the county courthouse. Today, that space is an elevator shaft. Clearly, we had nowhere to go but up."
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The credit union has grown from two original employees to a current staff of 180, from a few hundred members to more than 73,000 and from a lowly broom closet to eight branches.
SMCU is based in Redwood City, Calif., and has assets of more than $697 million.
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