Our History

It All Began...

Marquette Community Federal Credit Union´s history begins in 1952 at the Marquette Branch Prison. Local 684 of the Michigan Corrections Officers Association were granted a charter from the National Credit Union Administration to provide savings and loan services to the employees of the Marquette Branch Prison. The name was simple, Marquette Branch Prison Employees Federal Credit Union. Thirty-five correction officers attended the organizational meeting and selected George Somers as Board President and Cesar Urbanski and Wes Kumpula as Co-Treasurers. Credit union offices and hours of operation were quite flexible for the first several years, being run from whatever location the Treasurers occupied!

The first permanent office consisted of 160 square feet of rented space in a building located at 420 North Third Street. The rent was $30.00 per month. At that time Wes Kumpula became a full time credit union employee as Treasurer/Manager - - a post he held until his retirement in 1985.

January 1960 saw the first of several additions to the range of our charter. In that month, we expanded our membership eligibility to include all public employees in Marquette County and changed our name to Public Employees Federal Credit Union. Subsequent changes to our charter included a merger with the Marquette Co-op credit union in 1972, the absorption of the LS&I Railroad Credit Union and the Bunny Bread Employees Credit Union several years later, and lastly a change to our current community-based charter in July 1978. The final charter change led to another name change. From February 1980 to May 1998, we were known as Marquette First Federal Credit Union. During this period, we also acquired our first owned office space. The credit union building was erected at 827 North Third Street and consisted of approximately 2300 square feet. We remained there until June 1998, when we moved to our present location at 1230 West Washington Street. Once again, we changed our name, this time to Marquette Community Federal Credit Union. In June 2003, we expanded our field of membership to include all of Marquette County. As the credit union’s footprint continued to expand, the office space requirement grew also. In the summer of 2008, the credit union had a study conducted to help determine what would be the best solution for expansion. The study considered both expanding the current location or adding a second location. Following the recommendations of the study, in December of 2009 the credit union added its first branch office located on the corner of US-41 and M-28 in Harvey. In December 2021 we did a Community Expansion to include the common bonds: the Central UP, including the following Counties:Alger, Baraga, Delta, Dickinson, Houghton, Iron, Keweenaw, Marquette, and Menominee Counties, Michigan. (see membership page for current field of membership)

Over the years, through several charter and name changes, we grew to avail ourselves to a greater diversity of potential members. We have never lost sight of the reason those original thirty-five prison guards applied for a credit union charter; to establish a member owned financial institution dedicated to service our members/owners. Though we have grown from those few employees with a vision, our commitment to member service remains paramount. Our present field of membership includes residents of the Marquette County as well as anyone working, worshiping, volunteering, or going to school in the county.