ORNL FCU 75 Years

Everybody’s Money magazine was sent to all members starting in 1965.

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The Credit Union Educational Committee was created to help members learn about thrift, budgets, and related economic issues. Marketing efforts also got officially underway in 1963 when a committee was tasked with establishing activities and efforts to increase non-member interest in the credit union. The greatest single growth year in the credit union’s sixteen-year history came in 1964, when assets surged by more than $630,000, income rose by 19 percent, and expenses as a percentage of income fell. This extraordinary growth was spurred by several crucial changes: an increase in the share limit to $5,000, the lifting of restrictions on individual deposits, and an amendment of the bylaws to allow retired workers to retain their credit union memberships. „ „ „

That year, a bold move into automation was made by adopting the use of an Address-o-Graph (an automated address labeling system) and a Graphotype machine, used to stamp out metal plates that served as membership cards.

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In 1965, a retirement annuity benefit plan for office employees debuted. As a service to its members, the credit union began distributing Everybody’s Money , a quarterly magazine published by the Credit Union National Association (CUNA). The CUzette , ORNL EFCU’s quarterly newsletter to keep members up to date on the organization’s happenings, also launched that year. By 1967, the credit union was a $5.7 million institution. Lending policies were liberalized to allow more members to borrow.

OUR OWN WORDS We have 190,000 members. They live in all fifty states and around the world. Because once you’re a member of the credit union, you’re always a member. It’s interesting how that works when you think about employers like the Lab, which brings in people from all over the country and the world. They work here and lots of times they move on. If you move away, you can still have an account here. You just take your membership with you. BECKY CURRY SVP Data Intelligence

1959-1968 UNPRECEDENTED GROWTH | 25