Change is a part of growth and becoming better, and Credit Union 1 has continued to evolve and grow since we were founded in 1958 with an original base of membership of personnel from Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul, Illinois. Since then we have grown tremendously into a Billion dollar plus financial institution, but our core values remain the same. Be Great, Be Engaged, Be Open, and Be Nice. These core values drive our mission statement “To be THE financial institution that drives family and community success.” CU1’s history demonstrates our ability to adapt and become a stronger organization through transformations like in 1978 when it was announced that Chanute Air Force Base, the original source of membership, was a candidate for closure. After the decision to retain Chanute Air Force Base was made, it was apparent CU1 needed a strategy to grow other areas of membership to insulate the credit union from being at this type of risk in the future. Over the next 20 years CU1 offered smaller credit unions more financial strength via merger, while at the same time increasing CU1 field of membership options. One very notable change was transitioning the Credit Union 1 field of membership from “occupational” to “associational” so that CU1's field of membership was no longer restricted to military affiliations. Since the transition, Credit Union 1 has continued to grow by making itself available to anyone that wishes to be a part of the Credit Union movement via our 250+ Select Employment Groups (SEGs) as well as our CU1 Educational Development Association (CU1EDA) that allows members to join via a $5 donation to the CU1EDA. CU1 is continually looking to help current and future CU1 members maximize their economic potential through outstanding products, technology, service, and diversity of serving new communities.
At Credit Union 1, our mission is to help more people achieve their economic potential, which benefits our member owners and the communities we serve. This objective allows us to live our vision of being a financial institution that drives family and community success. We welcome you to become a part of the Credit Union motto, “People helping People” and participate in a better way of saving and borrowing money. As a cooperative, when our membership increases, the rise permits us to grow and expand our product offerings, better serving our members and the communities in which we all live. Membership growth helps attract the deposits we need to lend out to other members in our communities in the form of Mortgages, Auto Loans and similar products. The increase of lending services to more members in our communities also generates more loan interest income, which is our greatest source of revenue. This additional loan interest income is then reinvested back into your credit union in the form of improved technology and services. The improvements make it possible to provide products and services more efficiently and at a lesser cost. By delivering services and products in a less costly manner, your credit union can provide its member owners with an enhanced member experience and keep our deposit rates higher and our loan rates lower. Both of which benefit our entire membership base. A true win/win scenario for all our member owners. Credit Union 1 employees are proud to know that they work for an organization that is truly investing itself in the vision statement of being THE Financial institution that drives family and community success. This pride carries over into offering you a great experience that exceeds your needs as a member.
