STREETSBORO, Ohio – Mayor Glenn M. Broska said he has been a member of 7 17 Credit Union for about 12 years.
“My experience with them has just always been great,” Broska said, adding that some places talk about customer service but 7 17 is all about it.
In the near future, Broska and 7 17 members in the Streetsboro area should have even better service.
7 17 Credit Union on Monday celebrated its latest project, its newest branch in a renovated former Walgreens store at 9166 state Route 43, next to the new Streetsboro City Hall, which opened earlier this year.
At 15,000 square feet, the brick building will not only be transformed into a full-service branch for Streetsboro members, but it also will serve as the region’s flagship branch, according to John Demmler, CEO of 7 17.
It will house the credit union’s western division of commercial and mortgage lenders, and the credit union will partner with an insurance brokerage firm to offer in-house insurance products.
A cafe, featuring a soon-to-be-announced Mahoning Valley coffee business, will be open to employees and the public.
“We hope that the cafe will bring people in throughout the community,” Demmler said. “We want to make banking be more about connections than transactions. So we think the cafe symbolizes that.”
The new 7 17 Credit Union branch will also serve as a training facility for employees in the western market, providing another place for HR orientations and training as the credit union prepares to expand even further west.
“Our primary contact center is in Warren, but as we grow and we add more people, we’ll add additional bodies to this contact center,” said Demmler, adding it also will “just naturally serve as a backup disaster recovery location for us.”
The branch, expected to open in late summer or early fall, will eventually bring more than 30 jobs to Streetsboro.
Demmler said 7 17 has a 60-year history in Portage County. The Kent State Student Credit Union merged with the Kent Credit Union in 2006, and the Kent Credit Union merged with 7 17 Credit Union in 2015.
Demmler said the new hub branch is located centrally between branches in Kent and Ravenna, and as the credit union expands its presence in Portage County, next year in Aurora and potentially Tallmadge, it will serve as an operational hub for Portage County and the western market.
Broska said he has seen the renderings and the new building is going to complement the city’s efforts in that area – a new City Hall, new fire department four years ago, a splash park last year and an inclusive playground, center oval and small amphitheater gazebo to come.
“One of the things we wanted to do was to bring a downtown core to the city, and this is going to fit right in,” Broska said, adding that all of the city’s plans will draw people into their growing city. “I couldn’t be more pleased. I’m so happy [7 17 is] coming.”
Pictured at top: Brian Williams, 7 17 Credit Union senior vice president, market executive – Western Region; Deb Covert, president and CEO of the Streetsboro Chamber of Commerce; John Demmler, CEO of 7 17 Credit Union; and Mayor Glenn M. Broska, pose after knocking holes in some drywall signs symbolizing the new Streetsboro branch.