Grand Junction Federal Credit Union’s new east-side building will look a lot like its 24 Road location

Tim Harty, The Business Times

Grand Junction Federal Credit Union is hosting a groundbreaking April 2, but the ceremonial shovels turning dirt at 546 Warrior Way won’t really mark the start of the construction that will net the credit union a second location.

Heavy machinery has been moving dirt at the site across E 1/2 Road from Central High School for two weeks already, and Grand Junction FCU President and CEO Karen Troester marvels at how quickly things are happening. If finding the lot for the new building a year-and-a-half ago seems like yesterday, opening its doors to customers is going to arrive in a fashion that feels like tomorrow.

Troester said, “It’ll be a really quick build,” as construction by FCI is expected to be completed by the end of August, allowing the credit union to open Sept. 1.

In her email announcing the groundbreaking, Troester started with: “This has really come on us fast.”

On the other hand, it has taken Grand Junction FCU, which was founded in 1957, almost 70 years to add a second location in Grand Junction. But things are changing at a quicker pace since Troester took the reins in October 2021. Her arrival was preceded that summer by Grand Junction FCU leaving its longtime home at 910 Main St. in downtown Grand Junction to move into the distinctive building at 633 24 Road, which it bought from Timberline Bank.

The 24 Road location is of note, because it heavily influenced what is coming to Warrior Way in a few months.

“This building is really known in the community,” Troester said. “If you tell someone that we’re in the lodge-looking building on 24 Road, they know exactly what we’re talking about. And when people walk in this building, the warmth, the way this is built inside, they’re just, it’s peaceful.

“So, we’re working very hard on making that same similar look inside over there (at 546 Warrior Way) as well, just something that’s calm and relaxing. In a world where everybody’s building the big steel building, with all the glass windows and all of that, that’s not who we are.”

Troester said the new, single-story building will be just under 4,500 square feet, and its exterior will look a lot like the 24 Road building.

For the interior, Troester expressed excitement and spoke of using local artists.

“It’s gonna be really cool,” she said.

She also said it will be functional as Grand Junction FCU’s new building will have five offices and a teller line that can accommodate five tellers. It will have a drive-up window and an ATM.

Staffing at the outset will likely be two or three tellers, two bankers and a receptionist, but eventually Troester expects all of the space will be occupied.

Some services will be at the 24 Road office only, such as administration, compliance and the title department.

“We don’t need those in both locations,” Troester said. “We just need functional operations over here (at Warrior Way).”

If it appears to be a little crowded right now at the 24 Road office building, that’s because it is. Troester acknowledged she’s overstaffing, “so that we are ready to go when those doors open with people that really have our processes and services down.”

Her expectations of new staff members will be the same as the current staff, which has been cross-trained and developed into a well-versed group that doesn’t say, “I don’t know,” to customers. “They know enough that they can get them where they need to go, or they can help them,” Troester said.

“In my close to 30 years of banking – I always knock on wood when I say this – but currently this is the best staff I’ve ever worked with,” she said. “Just across the board, it’s amazing. Everybody gets along. There’s no silos.”

Grand Junction FCU’s new building will give it a presence on the east half of the Grand Valley, and Troester likes the potential she see there, saying it “became obvious that needed to be our next place to go, to better serve the valley itself, do a little more on the east end.”

She added it’s a fairly underserved area financially and a significant business and residential growth area.

“For us, it was about finding a location that’s actually going to serve the community,” Troester said. “Like I said, it’s underserved financially, which, in the credit union space – if you’ve ever heard the term that credit unions serve the underserved population – it doesn’t mean poor, it doesn’t mean socioeconomic population. It means serving your community, period. Where do you need to be to serve your community?”