The new corporate offices for Northern Credit Union in Sault Ste. Marie broke ground last week for the construction of $8 million building scheduled for completion next year.
The 25,000-square-foot building will be constructed near Northern Credit Union's current location on McNabb Street and house both the corporate offices as well as a 5,000-square-foot branch.
Conditions are currently cramped at the company's corporate office, where employees are crammed into 10,000 square feet of office space in two locations. After the move, which is expected to take place in June 2010, the space will be doubled and all the corporate employees will be under the same roof.
“Now is the time to proceed, because we've outgrown our existing space,” said Al Suraci, president and CEO of Northern Credit Union.
“It isn't the best as far as productivity is concerned.”
“We're bursting at the seams.”
Suraci said it was also time to get the project underway, since improving the corporate headquarters previously took a backseat to expanding retail locations.
“We've certainly waited a while before we made this investment and made the decision to go forward with a new corporate office and a retail location,” said Suraci.
Northern Credit Union is already the largest credit union in the North with 24 retail branches in 22 communities throughout the region. Locations range east to Arnprior, north to Timmins and west to Thunder Bay.
Slower growth in the current economic climate isn't discouraging Northern Credit Union from the investment because it positions the company well for the future, said Suraci.
“Instead of hunkering down right now, we're investing in infrastructure, we're investing in our credit union and getting ready for when the economy gets back on track,” he said.
“This will approximately double our administrative space and allow us room to grow our business.”
Although the new building will provide room for more staff, there are no plans to hire at this time.
The new building will have green elements built into it, such as energy-efficient heating, ventilation and air conditioning. There will also be a courtyard in the centre, which will serve as a green area.
“It demonstrates our confidence in all of Northern Ontario and the future of Northern Ontario.”
Northern Credit Union's existing Bay Street branch will change from a retail location and focus on providing wealth management services to clients.
