Published August 2002

All City Credit Union expands product line, county locations

By Kimberly Hilden
SCBJ Assistant Editor

In July, visitors to All City Credit Union were met with balloons, streamers and cookies as the Everett-based financial institution celebrated the grand re-opening of its Lynnwood branch at 19725 40th Ave. W.

But that’s not the only thing All City has been able to celebrate in 2002, as the 6,200-member credit union has expanded its service offerings, branch locations and membership eligibility.

In January, for instance, All City introduced the MEMBERS Financial Services Program, which enables its members to consult with a financial services representative at no cost, Marketing Director Scott Prior said.

Members can use the service for investment, estate, insurance, retirement, tax and business planning; money management; and education funding.

“We’ve kind of partnered with all the other credit unions (in the area) to offer this to our members. It actually works out pretty well and gives our members access to financial planning and investments that alone we wouldn’t be able to offer,” Prior said.

Among the credit unions All City has worked with on the MEMBERS program are Northwest Plus, Snocope, Snohomish County PUD and Scott Employees. It’s to these credit unions that the financial services representative travels weekly, he said, crediting the cooperative nature of credit unions for the program’s success.

In February, All City opened its fourth branch — a site at Intermec Technologies in Everett — taking over a location that was vacated by California-based Premier America Federal Credit Union.

That was a unique opportunity, Prior said, and one that was beneficial for both parties involved.

“Intermec liked having the convenience of a credit union there,” he said. “They went looking for someone to basically assume the location ... and we’re trying to grow our membership also.”

Then in March, following the state’s adoption of rules to relax regulations regarding credit union membership, All City opened membership eligibility to anyone living, working or worshipping in the state of Washington.

Before then, the credit union’s membership had been open to employees of Snohomish County cities and their families; those who lived, worked or worshipped in select Snohomish County cities; and employees of select employer groups.

Even though All City’s membership has opened statewide, Prior said the credit union’s goal is to focus on the county and grow its membership from that base.

“At this point in time, we don’t have any plans to move all the way across the state,” he said. “We’re based in Snohomish County, and we’ve been here for 67 years, and we plan on staying here for a while.”

The credit union’s new Lynnwood facility fits in with that plan.

When All City moved its Lynnwood branch from 200th Street SW to 40th Avenue W. in May, President Ed Grubel said the new site — with its higher-visibility location, increased parking availability and increased space — would help in the credit union’s efforts to increase membership in south Snohomish County and “spread the word” about All City.

And spreading the word, educating people about the “credit union difference” is a challenge — and not just for All City but for other smaller credit unions as well, Prior said.

That difference, he said, can be found in the basic setup of a credit union, in which each member is basically an owner in the nonprofit financial institution.

“It’s much more member-focused, customer-focused versus profit-focused,” he said.

“Thankfully, we have companies like Boeing (Employees’ Credit Union) that have the deep pockets that can do the advertising that kind of focuses on what the differences are,” Prior said. “... It makes people (understand) that there is an alternative.”

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