ORNL FCU 75 Years
The credit union and its members also continued its important advocacy efforts in Washington, DC. In collaboration with other credit unions, they successfully lobbied Congress and repealed the law that previously placed a 10 percent withholding of taxes on interest and dividend income.
Nineteen eighty-four proved to be an excellent year for ORNL FCU’s growth, with deposits increasing 19 percent and assets increasing 18 percent to over $123 million.
Throughout the year, sixty-seven new membership groups became affiliated with the credit union, representing more than 2,400 potential new members and hundreds more from their family members. That year also saw a merger with ORTEC Employees Credit Union. Formed to service the employees of Oak Ridge Technical Enterprises Corporation, a small scientific manufacturing firm started in 1960, this was a major first for ORNL FCU. While shared branching continued with K-25 Federal Credit Union, Knoxville TVA Employees Credit Union announced their withdrawal. This resulted in a new ORNL FCU branch in West Knoxville. The opening of a new Lenoir City branch coincided with the installation of an expanded-capacity data processing system that would provide faster transactions. That year, the credit union began offering a thirty-year mortgage and introduced its credit management services (for members needing budget or debt management assistance) and discount brokerage services. In 1985, a year in which President Ronald Reagan visited the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, to learn about the university’s work with local business and industry, the credit union did much to improve its financial strength and service offerings to members. Home banking was introduced with expanded phone touch tone services, and ATMs were added to the network to make it easier than ever to access ORNL FCU services. That year, an astounding loan volume with a 30 percent loan increase was recorded. Payouts on the savings plan for Martin Marietta Energy Systems, the laboratory’s new managing and operating contractor, helped push deposits up by $27.5 million during the year. Part of 1985’s growth resulted from the addition of more than 3,400 new members throughout the credit union’s service area, which brought its membership to over twenty-seven thousand.
Throughout 1986, interest rates in the nation’s money markets continued a steady decline, requiring the credit union to adjust its own savings and loan rates. New services were improved and introduced, including a new Payment Saver Auto Loan that provided members an alternative to car leasing programs. The North Knoxville branch was remodeled to add loan offices and additional staff, and a new 38,000 square-foot Oak Ridge main office opened with 2,100 safe
1979-1988 STRUGGLES & TRIUMPHS | 41
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