Energy Credit Union, Waltham, Mass., recently opened a new fullservice branch in West Roxbury. Terrence Vigneaux will be managingthe new location which offers a wide variety of deposit, loan andinvestment services, including free financial planning services forfamilies in every stage of life. Some of the banking services willinclude: free checking, free ATMs, free home banking and free billpay; statement savings accounts, CDs, IRAs and holiday and vacationclubs; real estate loans, including mortgages, refinancing, homeequity and home improvement; and consumer loans, including cars,motorcycles, boats, RVs, computers and holiday loans. AmericanHeritage Federal Credit Union, Philadelphia, Pa., recentlycelebrated the groundbreaking for its newest branch on West HuntingPark Avenue. The credit union is replacing its current branch onWest Hunting Park Avenue with the new 3,800 square foot branch,which will feature six remote teller stations, member serviceoffices, an Internet caf and a coin counting machine. It isscheduled for completion by year-end 2006. Texans Credit Union,Wylie, Texas, opened a new branch office in Wylie. The CU will holda grand opening celebration with fun activities for the wholefamily and a grand prize drawing for two tickets to the GeorgeStrait concert on May 26 and two tickets to the June 16 RascalFlatts concert. In addition to the grand prizes, there will bedrawings for a chance to spend 15 seconds in the Texans MoneyMachine every half hour. Children will enjoy bounce houses, facepainters and a paper-airplane making contest. The new branch willinclude a staff of tellers, an on-site loan officer, businessaccount services, safe deposit boxes and a night depository.Vermont Federal Credit Union, Burlington, Vt., has announced theopening of a new downtown branch in St. Albans. The new branch isactually a relocation of the current downtown branch and opened May1st. The new branch will be a full-service retail branch, whichincludes: a drive-up window, an ATM and plenty of parking. KembaCredit Union, Cincinnati, broke ground on its 9th full servicebranch on Union Centre Boulevard in the Chappell Crossingdevelopment. The new branch will be four stories and 32,000square-feet. The building will feature multiple drive-up tellerwindows and an ATM. Completion is expected at the end of 2ndquarter 2006. Eastern Financial Florida Credit Union, Miramar,Fla., has opened its Palm Springs branch in Hialeah. The CU's PalmSprings branch is a full service branch offering traditional tellerservices, auto loans, a suite of mortgage products and businesslending services. In addition, the branch has a 24-hour walk up ATMand safe deposit boxes with a biometrics security feature. CUT:Guests at Heritage Credit Union's weekend grand opening celebrationfor its new Madison branch had a chance to go into the money boothand grab up to $1,000. Heritage Credit Union, Madison, Wis.,recently held the grand opening of its newest branch in Madison.The CU held a weeklong grand opening celebration that included aribbon cutting ceremony and a branch dedication in the memory ofDon Bacon, the CU's longest running board member. During thecelebration, members of the community stopped in for dailyrefreshments, to spin a prize wheel for daily prizes, and to takeadvantage of HCU's special promotions on checking accounts, homeequity lines of credit, auto loans and CDs. A community celebrationwas held on the weekend and the public was given tours of the newbranch, free hot dogs and soda, and a chance to go into a moneybooth, where they could grab up to $1,000. Heritage's new branchfeatures a large lobby and waiting area, a state-of-the-art tellerarea, private rooms for loan inquiries, four drive-up lanes, an ATMand an Internet Caf. CUT: Everyone lends a hand at thegroundbreaking of Public Service Credit Union's new Romulus branchthat will serve as both a branch location and also the CUheadquarters. Public Service Credit Union, Dearborn, Mich., held agroundbreaking ceremony recently at the site of the CU's newRomulus branch. The new location will serve as both itsheadquarters and a branch location. The 20,000 square foot buildingis scheduled to be open in Dec. 2006. CUT: Many were in attendanceat the ribbon cutting ceremony for Wright-Patt Credit Union's newTwin Towers Member Center. Wright-Patt Credit Union, Fairborn,Ohio, held a ribbon cutting ceremony for its new Member Center,which celebrates its reinforced commitment to the Twin TowersCommunity. WPCU's original facility in the Twin Towers neighborhoodwas located in the Twin Towers Food Mart, but usage of that MemberCenter increased and the services had become so highly valued inthe community that a move to provide more space and an enhancedenvironment was a must. The Twin Towers Member Center servesapproximately 1,600 members who have been able to make use of over$2 million in loan funds and maintain savings of over $3 million.CUT: Even in their suits, everyone lends a hand at thegroundbreaking ceremony for University Credit Union's newretail/support center in the Tamiami Airport area. UniversityCredit Union, Miami, recently celebrated the groundbreaking of itsnew retail/support center located in the Tamiami Airport area.Slated to open in Spring 2007, the new 22,000 square foot facilitywill house administrative offices, a call center and a full servicebranch including ATM and drive-up tellers. This new facility willbring the number of University CU branches to seven. Nevada FederalCredit Union, Las Vegas, celebrated the grand opening of its newbranch in Pahrump. The new branch offers a teller line and extendedbusiness hours. In addition, the full service branch offers freechecking accounts, competitively priced first mortgage and homeequity loans, Visa credit cards and Internet home banking (withbill payer). CUT: Board members and staff of Guardian Credit Unionall take part in the groundbreaking of the CU's new Prattvillebranch. Guardian Credit Union, Prattville, Ala., recently brokeground on its new, state-of-the-art Prattville facility. Attendeesat the ceremony included: Mayor Jim Byard, Jim Givan from DesignBuild Concepts out of Atlanta, Ga., the CU's board, as well asvarious members of Prattville's Chamber of Commerce. The new branchwill take the place of a modular building that is currently on-siteand is scheduled to open before the end of 2006. CUT: It was agroup effort to cut the ribbon at the grand opening of DigitalFederal Credit Union's new Gold Star branch. Digital Federal CreditUnion, Worcester, Mass., recently opened a full-service branchhere, the Gold Star branch. The new branch celebrated its grandopening with a ribbon cutting ceremony as the doors were open tothe public. DCU members, employees and representatives from the DCUCenter joined in the celebration, as well as Dick Kennedy,president of the Worcester Chamber of Commerce. The 5,000 squarefoot branch features an Internet Caf with computer kiosks, printersand free coffee for member use. The branch will have six tellerstations and a 24-hour walk-up ATM. CUT: Local school board andtownship officials joined credit union officials and MacDade branchemployees for the ceremonial ribbon cutting for Franklin Mint FCU'snew MacDade branch. Franklin Mint Federal Credit Union, Broomall,Pa., celebrated the opening of its MacDade Boulevard officerecently. Local school board and township officials were inattendance at the CU's ribbon cutting ceremony along with MacDadebranch employees and credit union officials. The new 1,000 squarefoot branch includes two offices, a 24-hour ATM and night drop, anInternet station that provides access to the CU's online bankingservice and three remote teller stations. CUT: OMNI CommunityCredit Union brought out the gold shovels for the groundbreaking ofits seventh branch. OMNI Community Credit Union, Battle Creek,Mich., recently held its Groundbreaking Ceremony for its seventhbranch office. The new 3,600 square foot branch will offer membersand area residents a modern and comfortable setting to conduct alltheir financial transactions. The new branch, to be constructed bythe Redmond Group, is scheduled to open in November 2006. Thebranch will feature 4 drive-thru lanes and a drive-up ATM. CUT: Kof C FCU had a baseball-themed Grand Opening and Ribbon CuttingCeremony for its new Baltimore Pike branch. K of C Federal CreditUnion, Springfield, Pa., recently held the Grand Opening and RibbonCutting Ceremony for its new Baltimore Pike branch. Four pairs ofbaseball tickets were awarded each hour during the celebration thathad over 100 attendees. Each guest received a chance to spin thePrize Wheel and was invited to participate in games such asBaseball Trivia, Baseball Beanbag Toss and Baseball Pitch. The CUalso collected new and gently used baseball equipment for Pitch Infor Baseball, a nonprofit organization that collects and givesyouth baseball equipment and other assistance to children inunderserved communities around the globe. Equipment will continueto be collected at all branches through the end of May.