The credit union for Narragansett Electric Co. and Hasbro Inc. employees is constructing a new Warwick branch, where plans are to expand services for existing members and make them available to others.
Site work began July 21 for the future headquarters of Wave Federal Credit Union on Route 5 next to Ski Market. Currently the credit union operates from two branches, one at 341 Benefit St. in Pawtucket and main offices in Narragansett Electric’s headquarters at 280 Melrose St., Providence.
Wave is spending $3 million to build the new 13,500-square-foot branch and headquarters, and has hired Worcester, Mass.-based New England Design Associates to oversee construction. The three-story facility will offer members drive-through service, ATMs and easy access off Interstate 95, the credit union said.
Paul Archambault, Wave’s president and CEO, said the project should be completed by early spring 2006. “I think we will have more modern services with the drive-through (teller service) and expanded product base,” he added.
Meanwhile, the credit union has an application before the National Credit Union Association to open its doors to residents, employees and students from Pawtucket, Providence, Cranston and the cities and towns of Kent County, Archambault said.
The credit union has a federal charter to serve family members and employees of Narragansett Electric (as well as those who work for other National Grid companies) and Hasbro. Its desired community charter pending before the NCUA would grandfather in the 5,500 existing members, but would limit future memberships to people from the above geographical area, Archambault said.
The CEO noted that the NCUA should rule on the credit union’s application within “a few months,” and he would like to see its membership increase by 1,000 people or 20 percent in the first year.
Wave was chartered in 1938 as the Narragansett Electric Employees’ Federal Credit Union, and merged with Hasbro Employees Federal Credit Union in March 2003. It has a reported $64 million in assets and employs 19 people.
In other related news, Pawtucket Credit Union on July 18 opened its eighth branch at 96 Independence Way in Cranston. Providence’s Vision 3 Architects designed the 2,500-square-foot building, of which Graham Builders Inc. of Greenville oversaw construction. The branch features two drive-through service stations and a drive-up ATM.
“We are very proud of the growth and expansion we have undergone, and our new branch is an example of that,” said Robert P. Andrade, executive vice president and chief operating officer for the credit union.
The new branch is actually a relocation of services from the nearby Rojack’s supermarket, where the credit union operated despite the market closing and vacating the space about a year ago, Andrade explained.
He said the credit union plans to open its second East Providence branch on Warren Avenue later this month, and relocate operations from a Shaw’s supermarket at 320 Warwick Ave. in Warwick to a free-standing branch under construction down the road on the site of a former car dealership.
Chartered in 1928, Pawtucket Credit Union has $750 million in assets and some 63,000 members in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts.
Credit unions are nonprofit institutions that typically return revenues to their members by offering more-than-average interest on deposits and less than prime rate loans. Every member has a vote to elect boards of directors, who appoint management and make decisions about expanding locations and products.
