MidWest America Federal Credit Union held a grand opening celebration and ribbon cutting, hosted by the Wells County Chamber of Commerce, on Jan. 6, at their new location, 1840 N. Main St., in Bluffton.
Greg Mohr, president and CEO, welcomed everyone to the celebration giving thanks and praise for the work of Kinder & Sons constructing the new building and Rob Troxel for the property sale.
“We appreciate the work Kinder & Sons does for us as they have built many buildings over the years at various locations. We also want to thank Rob Troxel for selling us the land so we could bring our credit union to Wells County,” Mohr said.
Mohr also said that Wells County has been on the radar for several years because it is the largest county they have by membership that did not have a physical facility.
“We look forward to serving the Wells County area. Our credit union has grown and continues to grow as we try to offer competitive quality service to our members for their financial success.”
Living in the community for 20 years, Eric Bendes, is the credit union’s area branch manager.
“Since working for MidWest America for seven years, I have been trying to get a branch here in Wells County. It’s a long time coming, but a welcome coming,” he said.
Due to the number of members in Wells County, Bendes stated that this location made sense to add in the credit union’s footprint.
“Many of our Wells County members were driving to Decatur, Huntington, or Fort Wayne for their financing needs; therefore, this decision was in the best interest of our members.”
MidWest America Federal Credit Union is a full-service financial institution offering checking, savings, certificate of deposits, online banking, with lending services such as, auto, home, personal loans, mortgages, and equity loans.
“We hope to continue to expand our membership and serve our existing members to the best of our ability,” said Bendes.
There are five employees working the Wells County branch and each one are local residents or grew up in the community.
“We have a lot of strong ties here in the community with our staff and they know a lot of people,” Bendes said.
Bendes is excited to get involved in the community, especially participating in the Wells County Leadership Academy, Chamber of Commerce activities, and other community functions. The credit union has been (for the past six years) and will continue to be involved in the Bluffton Free Street Fair.
Laurie Black, VP of marketing and corporate communications, said that MidWest America started in 1936 and although new to Wells County, they are not new to finances.
“It is exciting to be a part of place that we had a presence of members, but now have a branch,” she said. “It’s important for people to know that Eric is from the community, he is a part of them, and he is excited to get involved.”
