ORNL FCU 75 Years

FOUNDING MEMBERS At its inception, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s credit union was comprised of ten founding members:

Robert H. Beidel E. C. Cunningham M. V. Firmin Kenneth A. Fowler Meredith R. Hill

H. C. Maggart G. W. Tyler Fred C. Vonder Lage Lloyd N. Williams W. N. Woodward Jr.

monthly investments ($50 per account). Once members paid for one share ($5), they would be eligible for their share of the annual dividends. Security for all loans granted ($100 unsecured and $200 secured) would be provided in the form of insurance, whereby the payment of loans would be guaranteed in the case of death or permanent and total disability. That week’s issue of THE NEWS , the lab’s newsletter, reported that loan applications would be accepted by the new credit union, but action on them would be held until the charter was received from Washington, DC. In the article, the purpose of the credit union was stated as “being an agency for the extension of credit to employees in times of financial stress and providing easier access to needed funds than can be ordinarily obtained from a financial institution. A second aim . . . is the encouragement of thrift among those employees who will desire to become financially associated with the plan . . .”

Announcement of the formation of the ORNL Employees Federal Credit Union in the August 20, 1948, issue of THE NEWS , the lab’s employee newsletter. (Oak Ridge National Laboratory)

1948-1958 The Beginning | 15