Educators Credit Union (Wisconsin)

Educators Credit Union is a credit union based in southeastern Wisconsin, with 24 branches across seven counties. Founded in 1937 as the Racine Teachers Credit Union, membership has expanded greatly over time to include all residents of eleven Wisconsin counties as of 2020. Educators has over 200,000 members, representing about 7% of the 2.85 million Wisconsin residents eligible to join.

History
The Racine Teachers Credit Union was founded in 1937. On March 16, 1937, a meeting was held at the Racine Vocational School to organize and apply for a charter for a credit union. The credit union's initial members were 41 local public school teachers, the first of whom was Racine school superintendent W.C. Giese, namesake of Racine's Giese Elementary School. The credit union was incorporated in the state of Wisconsin in April 1937. At the time of its founding, it was one of eleven credit unions in Racine.

The credit union began accepting University of Wisconsin-Racine employees as members in 1954. It reached 1,000 members in 1958. By 1959, it had become the largest credit union in Racine, with assets of $475,435. After operating for decades in the houses of its officers, the credit union established its first permanent office in 1961 at 1603 Washington Avenue. It moved again to the Washington Square complex at the start of 1970.

By 1971, the credit union had assets of more than $5,000,000, and was serving employees of Dominican College, Union Grove Joint School District, and private and parochial schools in Racine. The credit union began expanding its services beyond Racine County school employees in 1972, with the opening of an office on the University of Wisconsin-Parkside campus in Kenosha County. On August 24, 1973, another branch opened in Burlington, serving public school employees in the city of Burlington and the neighboring towns of Rochester and Waterford. Reflecting the fact that the organization's services were not limited to Racine teachers, its name was changed to Educators Credit Union in February 1974.

In July 1974, ECU left its central location at Washington Square for a newly-built office at 1400 North Newman Road. Another branch opened at 414 West Moreland Boulevard in Waukesha on August 5, 1974.

In 1976, ECU became the first credit union in Racine County to offer checking accounts. It expanded into Milwaukee County in 1979 with the opening of a Wauwatosa branch at 11617 West Bluemound Road.

By 1990, Educators had grown to over 23,000 members, and had extended its services to employees of Milwaukee County schools, Gateway Technical College, and Racine and Waukesha county governments. In March 1990, the credit union received regulatory approval to include employees of Kenosha Unified School District. The organization's seventh branch opened in the Park Place office complex in Milwaukee in 1992.

Educators expanded its headquarters and flagship branch in Mount Pleasant in 1996, doubling the number of drive-through lanes and building a two-story addition to the office. At that time, the credit union had 43,000 members, and in 1996, it began admitting all government employees in five counties as members.

Educators acquired Parker Community Credit Union on January 8, 2018, expanding its services into Janesville, Beloit, and Rock and Green counties.

In September 2018, Educators opened a branch inside Racine's Park High School staffed by students. It was the fourth ECU branch located inside a school, with other locations at Racine's Case High, Kenosha's Bradford High and Milwaukee's Alexander Mitchell Integrated Arts School.

The credit union's newest branch opened in March 2020 at 100 Chapman Farm Boulevard in Mukwonago.

Financial information
Note that, because Educators Credit Union is a non-profit member-owned organization, its total assets at any given time are equal to its liabilities and member equity.