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Freeport heralds TDECU’s arrival
Published June 6, 2008
FREEPORT — The Texas Dow Employees Credit Union has not had a branch office to serve its more than 8,000 members in the Freeport area, the city where the lending union was founded 54 years ago.
That changed Thursday as smiling credit union members lined up to see a teller during the new Freeport branch office’s grand opening.
“It’s about time,” said Charlie Hawkins of Freeport, who has made the drive to Lake Jackson since he became a member of the credit union in 1968. “They think enough of Freeport to spend all this money and build this bank. It makes me feel good about my city.”
For a city starving for fresh investment, city leaders hope the credit union’s new branch is only the beginning of a wave of business interested in Freeport.
Brazosport Area Chamber of Commerce President Sandra Shaw said with the oncoming opening of the Freeport Marina and an expected rise in economic activity, the credit union branch i9s a vital addition to the city.
“It’s a great asset to the city of Freeport,” Shaw said. “It makes it much more convenient for the businesses in Freeport. We’re hoping Freeport is getting ready to prosper and grow with the new marina coming in, and this is another asset to help that happen.”
The $1.4 million branch, set along Brazosport Boulevard north of the city, sports drive-through tellers, six inside tellers and six loan officers. It also has a coffee bar and play area for children. Construction began in October and was finished last month.
“Everybody’s been very positive,” branch manager Luke Billeri said. “They appreciate our investment in the community.”
The credit union was started in 1954 by Dow Chemical Co. employees in Freeport who pooled their initial investment to lend $35 for a new refrigerator.
Since then, TDECU has grown into a $1.3 billion lending agency with 14 branches stretching from Victoria to Houston, Billeri said.
But until this week, residents and employees in the credit union’s birthplace have had to drive to the main office in Lake Jackson to bank.
“This is a nice moment for me. I grew up right over there,” Marcus Stephenson, credit union board chairperson, said as he pointed north from the new branch’s front door. Stephenson said there will be more lending in Freeport as the credit union’s membership within the city swells due to the branch location’s convenience.
“I work in the plants, so this is so much more easy,” Sweeny resident Robert Savage said in the branch’s lobby. “I don’t have to drive to Lake Jackson and miss lunch.”
Billeri also said the new Freeport branch hopefully will ease the flow of customers through the Lake Jackson office.
Another branch also is being built in Port Lavaca, he said.
TDECU continues to expand despite the struggling mortgage industry nationwide. That in part because it has not seen significant drops in loan requests in its areas of the state, said Brad Bauges, branch administration vice president.
“Victoria and Lake Jackson haven’t had the issues that you see as close as Houston,” Bauges said. “They’ve been real strong.”
Along with the branch opening, the credit union donated $2,500 to support a tree-planting initiative by the Freeport Main Street program, Billeri said.
It also contributed $5,000 to the Freeport Police Department Explorers program.
Hunter Sauls covers Freeport for The Facts. Contact him at (979) 237-0153.
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AREA BRANCHES
Lake Jackson: 1001 FM 2004
Angleton: 2900 N. Velasco
Brazoria: 1601 N. Brooks
Freeport: 1701 Brazosport Blvd.
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