There’s a new financial institution coming to town, the Windsor Family Credit Union (WFCU).
However, there is no exact timeline on when they will open their planned branch in Chatham.
Eddie Francis, CEO and president of WFCU, confirmed with The Chatham Voice that a 4,000 square-foot branch is planned for construction at St. Clair Street and Pioneer Line at the north end of Chatham. But it is in the site planning stages at this point.
Two years ago, WFCU purchased the Education Credit Union (ECU) in the Kitchener-Waterloo Region. Francis said expanding from Windsor towards that part of the province is just a natural move for WFCU.
“We are coming to Chatham. It’s just a natural progression of our growth,” he said.
As for when he anticipates the branch will open, he said there are too many unknowns to predict a date.
“I’d like to be open tomorrow. But we are in the hands of the site planners and the developers,” he said.
When it does open, Francis said the Chatham branch will be about 4,000 square feet in size, will have a drive-thru ATM option, and will feature the latest in virtual ATM technology.
“This will be a modern branch. It will be the first of many,” he said.
Natural progression aside, Francis, the former mayor of Windsor, said he sees Chatham-Kent as having “significant potential.
“The economy is picking up in the region, but even more so, I always looked at our region and our expanded region as having tremendous potential,” he said. “These are very affordable communities to raise a family in and they are very affordable communities to do business in and have all the amenities of the big cities. All those factors combine to make all our communities very attractive. What you are starting to see is the realization of others that this is a fact.”
