Purdue Federal Credit Union celebrated the opening of their Crown Point branch on Friday, September 13. The ribbon-cutting ceremony featured an appearance by Purdue Pete, various games, prizes, food and giveaways to mark the beginning of Purdue Federal’s journey in a new community.
Purdue Federal has been playing a large part in the La Porte community since 2010, and the Crown Point branch is now their second location in Northwest Indiana. A nonprofit owned by its members, Purdue Federal places a strong emphasis on being active in the communities it serves. The Crown Point location was chosen after a period of careful research on both financial factors and community details.
“We look at all the demographics, all the statistics that tell you about the health of a community, and this is a good community that’s growing and doing great things,” said Bob Falk, Purdue Federal Credit Union CEO. “That’s the kind of community that we want to be a part of. Plus, this is a Purdue town—we’ve had people coming in saying, ‘I’m so glad to see your now open sign.’”
The city demonstrated its Purdue roots by turning out in strong numbers, posing and playing with Purdue Pete, and eagerly taking the chance to get free Purdue shirts.
“Crown Point has been a huge growth area, so we just felt the need to be up here with the amount of alumni who live in the area,” said Jackie Hofman, Senior Vice President of HR & Marketing for Purdue Federal Credit Union. “We’re here to serve them and their financial needs. This is a huge step for us, we’d acquired our La Porte branch through a merger. So this is truly a first for us, entering into a market and starting fresh.”
The team at the Crown Point branch are led by Matt Scheuer, Area Sales Manager. He had years of experience in the banking industry before joining Purdue Federal, and is excited to bring the organization’s culture into Crown Point.
“The biggest difference here is the culture, it really comes down to being our members’ trusted consultants throughout their lives,” Scheuer said. “I think our team here is special, they’re going to be our backbone to help us grow across the entire region. I’m really confident with them serving our members and growing in that regard. The entire Purdue Federal family is truly working together toward a common vision.”
To learn more about Purdue Federal Credit Union and all of their services, visit www.purduefed.com.
