Skip to content

Welcome & Our History

Welcome to WESTconsin!

Greetings and Happy New Year! At the start of each new year, I can’t help but reflect on where I’ve been and who’s been beside me all along. Cheers to the WESTconsin members, employees, and those in the communities we serve for your support and encouragement throughout 2021. I’m so proud of all that we’ve accomplished together and look forward to the new year!

One of the things we are very excited about at WESTconsin is our new tagline and mission statement. Many folks may remember the tagline used in the 90s and into the 2000s, We Belong to You. While we are still a member owned cooperative, we wanted to start using a tagline that better reflects our mission moving forward. After a lot of research and feedback from employees and members, we developed the tagline Inspiring Better. Whether it be how we interact as a team or among our members and local communities, our culture at WESTconsin Credit Union cultivates pride in what it means to do better in many ways:

  • Great member experiences including helping members reach their goals through financial education and coaching.
  • Employees can expect better with career advancement opportunities and priority placed on their health and safety.
  • Providing ongoing support to improve our communities, through volunteerism, charitable giving and support of many community organizations and events.
Additionally, our mission statement has also been updated to better focus on the overall financial wellbeing of those we serve; to give members, communities, and one another the inspiration, resources, and support to achieve financial wellness. We are very excited about these updates and hope you feel the same!

Please mark your calendar for our 82nd Annual Membership Meeting! We would like to invite all member/owners of WESTconsin Credit Union to view our Virtual Annual Membership Meeting on Tuesday, March 22 at 6 p.m. You will hear reports and the results of two director elections. Ballots for the director elections may be requested from February 20 through March 12 and must be returned no later than March 17, 2022. More information will be available on our Annual Meeting page as it becomes available.

Something you might want to consider this year, if you haven’t yet, is utilizing WESTconsin eDocuments and Online Bill Pay. Changes were made to First Class mail standards in the fall, which increased the postage price and allows for longer delivery times of first-class USPS mail of up to 5 days. With WESTconsin’s Bill Pay, you can pay bills online from any computer or from the Mobile App. It can virtually eliminate paperwork, cut down on stamp costs, and generally save you time and aggravation. It can also help you avoid missed payments by sending alerts when certain bills are due or making automatic payments for those recurring monthly bills. Best of all, the service is absolutely free! Learn more about these services here!

I hope for you a fresh start with renewed energy and confidence throughout the new year. As always, if you would like to share your experiences, suggestions, or concerns, I always welcome member feedback. Please feel free to contact me at info@WESTconsincu.org.

lora_signature

Lora J. Benrud
CEO, WESTconsin Credit Union

We exist to serve our members.

house-<em>WEST</em>consin-history

Founded in 1939, WESTconsin Credit Union is one of the region's strongest financial services provider. Our history takes us back to primarily serving the Menomonie area agricultural community, then operating as Menomonie Farmers Credit Union. We expanded in membership base over the next several years and merged with other small credit unions in the region. In the summer of 1990, we recognized this growth by changing our name to WESTconsin Credit Union.

WESTconsin Credit Union celebrated our 80th anniversary in 2019. Celebrations took place throughout the year that gave back to the credit union’s agriculture roots by partnering with local agriculture organizations and businesses. Today, our field of membership footprint includes twenty-six counties across west central Wisconsin and east central Minnesota with 15 office locations in Altoona, Amery, Baldwin, Barron, Chippewa Falls, Eau Claire, Ellsworth, Hudson, Menomonie, New Richmond, Prescott, River Falls and Spring Valley, Wisconsin.

The spirit and philosophy of people helping people, guides WESTconsin leaders and encourages our employees to get involved in community and charitable activities and worthwhile causes, including sponsorships, donations, and volunteerism. Throughout 2020-2021, WESTconsin was very proud to support many local initiatives, including a $5,000 pledge to help build a new playground at the Spring Valley Elementary School, a donation to the L.E. Phillips Senior Center in Eau Claire of $10,000, and $45,000 spread throughout the area to local food pantries.  

WESTconsin is based in your community, owned by people like you. We seek to enrich members, communities, and employees with the resources and support to achieve financial wellness. While supporting one another, we’re Inspiring Better.

Our Mission

To give members, communities, and one another the inspiration, resources, and support to achieve financial wellness.

Core Values

We will achieve our mission...

<em>WEST</em>consin-core-values-icons-honesty

With honesty and integrity in all relationships.

<em>WEST</em>consin-core-values-icons-caring

With sincere care for our employees, members, and communities.

<em>WEST</em>consin-core-values-icon-quality

By providing quality service that outshines the competition.

WESTconsin Credit Union Notification:

You are now leaving the WESTconsin Credit Union website and going to a website not operated by WESTconsin. WESTconsin is not responsible for the content of this site and the privacy and security policies may differ from those practiced by WESTconsin. The third party website may provide less security than WESTconsin's website. WESTconsin does not represent the third party or you if you enter into a transaction. WESTconsin is not endorsing or guaranteeing the products, information or recommendations provided by linked sites. WESTconsin is not liable for any failure or services advertised on third party sites.