Business View Magazine | December 2020

157 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2020 GREAT LAKES CREDI T UNION or underbanked to have an option to save money in a safe place and to reinvest those funds so others could borrow money. And those philosophies still hold true to us today.” As time went on, the credit union grew and took steps to expand its charter and geographic footprint. This led to new members and locations in the counties surrounding the greater Chicagoland area, from Kenosha County in Wisconsin, down through Chicago’s southern suburbs, including the City of Chicago. But the main branch is still located across the street from the Commissary, and that is the credit union’s busiest location. The credit union’s board of directors also pursued aggressive acquisitions and mergers during that time, allowing it to grow membership and assets. This set Great Lakes Credit Union up for growth that continues to this day. GLCU is now among the top 10 largest in asset size within the State of Illinois, hovering right around $1 billion. It is state chartered and federally insured with 83,600 members nationwide. The majority of members are in the Illinois area, while the rest are scattered throughout the country. GLCU has 12 Chicagoland branch locations with 170 local ATMs and is also part of the CO-OP Shared Branching Network. This allows members to visit 5,600 institutions nationwide for their banking services. They can also use 30,000 fee-free CO- OP ATMs to access funds. Great Lakes Credit Union has used the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic to separate itself from peers in a competitive marketplace. Like other financial institutions, GLCU had to temporarily close some branch locations early on. But it did not layoff any employees. Instead, it has been hiring aggressively during the pandemic. According to Bugg, “Employees at branches that were temporarily closed, usually because the building lacked a drive-through window, were reassigned to help support the credit union’s call and loan centers. The credit union did not have a formal