 Grewey along with her husband, Kevin, and daughter Nicole currently
live in Pekin. When asked why she accepted the job in Lincoln,
Grewey explained, "I wanted to work in a smaller, community office."
She said there is more face-to-face and she enjoys the personal
contact.Although by CEFCU standards Lincoln is a smaller
facility, it is by no means a small, quiet location, with 6,500 area
members calling the branch their financial institution.
Grewey has jumped right in at being involved in the community.
She has joined the local Rotary Club of Lincoln and is a permanent
volunteer at the Logan Correctional facility, where she gives
classes to future parolees, explaining the importance of being
financially responsible once back in the outside world.
Grewey said that one thing about the Lincoln community that she
didn't realize until she came here is our strong bond with the
nation's 16th president. "I expected Springfield and New Salem to
have a strong interest in Abe Lincoln, but I didn't realize how
strong his tradition is with this community," she said. No doubt as
the approaching 200th birthday celebration draws near, that interest
in affiliation with Lincoln will reach new heights.
When asked what she feels is the greatest challenge she and her
company currently face, she believes it is remaining competitive in
the technology that has many customers switching from
bricks-and-mortar institutions to online banking systems.
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Although the credit union offers complete online banking, the
bustling activity at the Lincoln location appears to prove members
enjoy that face-to-face banking experience as much as Grewey does.
Grewey was also positive on the local real estate economy, as are
many realtors. She said the mortgage crisis bubble that hit many
parts of America did not occur within the credit union. "We (meaning
CEFCU) have always stayed with our basic lending principles, which
some might call conservative," she said. This practice has served
both the business and the community well, as the lending institution
has not had a problem with mortgage foreclosures. In fact CEFCU has
had strong enough results in the last two years to issue extra
dividends to all their members.
Citizens Equity First Credit Union was founded in 1937,
originally to serve employees of Caterpillar Tractor Company. It
currently is a $3.4 billion financial institution serving 228,000
members at more then 550 companies in a 14-county area of central
Illinois.
[By MIKE FAK]
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