Credit Unions Expand in Oregon, Minnesota
New branches are being added by InRoads FCU near Portland and Affinity Plus FCU near Saint Paul.
InRoads Federal Credit Union of Saint Helens, Ore., is planning to expand into Washington County by opening a new branch next summer in Hillsboro, Ore., and Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union has added a new branch just east of Saint Paul, Minn.
InRoads ($374.8 million in assets, 16,768 members) announced Oct. 19 that it will expand is seeking to hire bilingual staff for the 2,400-square-foot branch to meet the needs of the growing Spanish-speaking community.
Nathan Cox, who joined InRoads last spring as its president/CEO, said the goal is “to help folks along their financial journey, which is the approach we’ve had with our members in Columbia County for the last 85 years.”
“By extending our virtual presence into a physical one, we’ll be able to better serve our current members as well as form relationships with new consumers and small business owners,” Cox said.
NCUA data showed InRoads had four branches in Columbia County in June. The new, 2,400-square-foot branch will be 30 miles south of Saint Helens and 18 miles west of Portland.
Affinity Plus of Saint Paul ($4.1 billion in assets, 255,808 members) opened a new branch Oct. 19 at Lake Elmo, Minn., six miles east of Saint Paul.
The credit union has 29 other branches across Minnesota. In the first half of 2024, the credit union also said it plans to open a branch in Virginia, Minn., 200 miles north of Saint Paul, and one in Shakopee, Minn., 30 miles southwest of Saint Paul.
The Lake Elmo location will be the closest branch for roughly 10,000 existing Affinity Plus members in the eastern portion of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metro area.
The Lake Elmo manager is Jasha Fransen, a longtime member of the Lake Elmo community and an Affinity Plus employee since 2013.
“I’ve been a part of Affinity Plus for a long time and know firsthand that it’s an organization that prioritizes engaging with and supporting local communities,” Fransen said. “As the Lake Elmo and Oakdale communities continue to grow, I’m excited to bring high-quality financial services and Affinity Plus’ community-focused mission to the area that I call home.”
NCUA data showed the nation’s 4,780 credit unions had 21,835 locations as of June 30, having added 84 since Dec. 31. June’s count was still 134 fewer than in December 2019, before the pandemic.