Pawtucket Credit Union prepares to open new operations center

PAWTUCKET – Riding a wave of revenue growth, Pawtucket Credit Union is finishing construction of its $4.5 million operations center and plans to move employees into the facility in January.

About 50 workers will move into the new building at 1091 Central Ave. in Pawtucket from the credit union’s nearby headquarters at 1200 Central Ave., George Charette, Pawtucket Credit Union president and CEO said Friday in an interview with Providence Business News.

“We’re outgrowing the [headquarters] building in several departments,” Charette said.

Some departments will stay in the headquarters, others will be moved to the new center, which has enough room to accommodate up to 120 employees in the future, if needed, he said.

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In addition, the credit union opened a new branch in Bristol last month, bringing its branch total to 16. It also plans to open another branch in South Kingstown next fall.

Opening a branch in Bristol was a natural choice, as the credit union has about 4,000 members, about $100 million in loans, and $40 million in deposits stemming from the Bristol-Warren-Barrington area alone, Charette said.

Meanwhile, he said, the credit union has been enjoying a period of substantial growth, expecting to meet its targets of $140 million in loan growth and $120 million deposit growth for this year alone.

Overall, Pawtucket Credit Union’s total assets have grown to about $2.25 billion; total deposits to about $1.8 billion, and total loans approaching $2 billion, according to Charette.

The new operations center will house seven departments: the call center, e-commerce, information technology, information security, accounting, internal auditing, and operations. Those departments will move over from the headquarters.

The departments staying at the headquarters are lending [commercial, consumer, mortgage], compliance, employee development, loan servicing, collections, marketing, human resources, and the executive offices. The headquarters also houses one of its 16 branch offices for customers, who are called members.

Financed with the credit union’s free cash flow, construction of the new center started in March. It is a three-floor, 19,000-square foot building. Pawtucket city officials approved a zoning change for the project, changing it from residential to commercial, Charette said.

The bank owned the land and an old Victorian-style house there. The house was torn down, and part of the parcel is now used for the operation center and its parking lot, as is an abutting parcel the bank also owned, Charette said.

“All of the city departments were very helpful and accommodating,” he said, adding the credit union did not seek any financial concessions from the city for the project.

Pawtucket Credit Union is a state-chartered, open-membership credit union governed by a board of directors elected by its members at annual meetings.

Scott Blake is a PBN staff writer. Email him at Blake@PBN.com.