MSUFCU to expand East Lansing headquarters

EAST LANSING – Michigan State University Federal Credit Union plans to double the size of its headquarters with a new $46 million building and hundreds of new employees.

The East Lansing-based credit union wants to break ground next year on a second administration building northeast of its headquarters on West Road, north of Lake Lansing Road. The three-story building would have 186,000 square feet and house MSUFCU’s call center and its information technology and e-services departments.

The credit union expects to outgrow its current building, which is more than 180,000 square feet, by 2017, said April Clobes, the credit union’s executive vice president and chief operating officer.

Current and future growth are prompting the expansion, Clobes said. The credit union has built multiple new branches in recent years to meet customer demand. It also has opened membership to more employers beyond its traditional role serving MSU’s students, faculty, staff and families.

“People actually do want to go to a physical location and do business, and so the branch growth is really driving a lot of our other growth,” she said. “If we do our jobs well and we grow the members as we project, then we would grow the employees in proportion, which in turn means we need more space.”

MSUFCU has more than 600 employees. The credit union projects that will grow to 724 by 2017, with more than 1,000 on the payroll by 2024.

The headquarters expansion project still needs approval from East Lansing City Council. Should it happen, site work could start in June 2015, with construction finished by March 2017.

Delhi Township-based Granger Construction Co. is the selected contractor. Clobes said MSUFCU would use mostly local, union labor whenever possible.

City administrators haven’t had a chance to review the plans in full, but are “very excited that they’re continuing to expand in East Lansing,” said Lori Mullins, the city’s community and economic development administrator.

MSUFCU’s current headquarters building opened in 2008, replacing a smaller site on Crescent Road near MSU’s campus. Company leaders at the time said they anticipated needing to expand within 10 years when they moved.

Now, the credit union has 14 branches — including two affiliated with Oakland University. Its most recent branch opened in September in Mason and has generated 500 new accounts since then, Clobes said. MSUFCU said it has opened five new branches in the past two years and the number of customers at its branch offices has grown an average of 6 percent every year since 2012.

MSUFCU has $2.7 billion in assets and nearly 192,000 members. Clobes said the credit union projects it will reach 200,000 members by the first quarter of 2015.

Its newest branch is under construction in the Meridian Crossings shopping center near Okemos and Jolly roads. The $4.8 million, 7,800-square-foot office is set to open in May 2015, she said.

That pace of growth is not uncommon among the state’s credit unions, according to the Michigan Credit Union League, a Lansing-based trade group. There were more than 4.6 million credit union members in Michigan as of June and the league said year-over-year membership growth is up 2.3 percent, the fastest rate since 1998.

For MSUFCU, growth has resulted from a series of strategic decisions. It merged with Eaton County Educational Credit Union in 2013, which grew its customer base. And, it’s offering new memberships to more customers outside of MSU, Clobes said. State employees became eligible for membership in August. Other eligible employers now include Sparrow Health System, McLaren-Greater Lansing hospital, Demmer Corp., Peckham Inc. and the cities of Lansing and East Lansing.

“As we get to a certain size, like all other businesses, you need to grow a certain percentage to stay in business every year,” said Clobes, adding that MSU’s student and faculty numbers are largely constant.

The new building would be able to hold more employees than its current facility. The existing building will retain its customer branch.

At a glance

Michigan State University Federal Credit Union plans a $46 million, 186,000-square-foot expansion to its headquarters on West Road in East Lansing. The expansion would include a second administration building that would house MSUFCU’s call center and information technology and e-services departments.

If approved by East Lansing City Council, MSUFCU would break ground in June 2015 and finish construction in March 2017.