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RCU’s new corporate headquarters is leading a rebirth of the riverfront in downtown Eau Claire.
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| RCU president Charlie Grossklaus stands in what will be his office overlooking the Chippewa River at the corporate headquarters still under construction in downtown Eau Claire. The growth RCU experienced under Grossklaus’ leadership is paying
dividends throughout the community.
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By Mark Gunderman
On a blustery March day, Charlie Grossklaus looks out over the Chippewa River from what is to be his office in the new RCU corporate headquarters, and thinks about the workers who have been constructing the $10 million facility.
The window glass has yet to be installed, and the wind blowing fiercely through the top floor causes him to think of the workers who have had to contend with conditions on the roof.
Grossklaus, one of the most successful and admired CEOs in the Chippewa Valley, later this year will occupy the office with the most spectacular view in town. But he hasn’t forgotten where he came from, and the blue-collar working people responsible for the success of his organization.
"My first office was at the Uniroyal plant," he said.
The tire plant is long gone, but RCU more than survived the demise of the business that gave birth to it. In fact, the credit union played a key financial role in the rebirth of the old plant now known as Banbury Place.
Now RCU is playing a leading role in the rebirth of the riverfront area in downtown Eau Claire. The company’s new corporate headquarters will allow the city to realize a dream of revitalizing that area, and will likely lead to other redevelopment as well.
Some area businessmen socialize at a Business After Hours event held at the new RCU headquarters in Eau Claire in March.
It’s typical of the RCU story — a tale of growth through steady leadership.
Working people unite
Forty-two people attended the first organizational meeting for a credit union to serve tire plant workers, on the night of April 14, 1964, at the United Rubber Workers Hall in Eau Claire. By the end of that first year, Royal Credit Union had 619 members and $121,000 in assets.
Grossklaus joined the organization in 1971 after graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and a stint in the military. He was a loan collector, rose to a loan officer, and in 1984 became CEO. The community has seen the results of his vision of growth.
"When I took over, we had $100 million in assets,” he said. “When I joined the organization, we were at $5 million."
Today, RCU is by far the dominant player in the local financial market, with more than 100,000 members, $575 million in assets and 440 employees. Vision, leadership and response to the marketplace have made the difference.
"A lot of it has to do with timing," Grossklaus said. "We started doing strategic planning back in the ‘70s. We plan every year. We have a one-year plan. We have a five-year plan."
Those plans are focused on customer needs. As a credit union, RCU is member-owned, not investor-driven. It has grown because the needs of its members are paramount and its leadership has been very astute in determining what those needs are.
"The biggest thing was the opportunity out in the marketplace. People were begging for personal service," Grossklaus said. "We made our decisions based on customer service."
It’s not as if other financial institutions were ignoring customer service, but more a case of RCU putting itself on the leading edge of several trends.
In credit unions, for example, they are called "share drafts" rather than checks, but the principle is the same, and RCU was the first to offer interest on these accounts.
"Take a look at profitability of financial institutions. Just because banks didn’t pay interest on checking didn’t make it right," Grossklaus said.
In the following years, RCU became the first financial institution in the Valley to:
— Have an in-house on-line computer allowing immediate knowledge of account balance.
— Offer a 24-hour, 7-days-a-week telephone service like CompuTeller.
— Open a satellite office in a grocery store available seven days a week.
— Open a full-service office on Sunday.
"We were one of the first credit unions in the country to get into business lending," said Grossklaus, noting that RCU is eighth in the nation among credit unions in business loans.
It ranks No. 1 among Chippewa Valley financial institutions in mortgage lending.
RCU was ahead of others in the valley in cooperating with businesses by offering direct deposit, with money deducted from employees’ checks going straight into the worker’s savings account. Direct loan payments followed suit.
When ATM machines became the next big thing, RCU got ahead of the curve on that, too. Today it has more ATM machines around the Valley than any financial institution.
Smart growth
Meanwhile, RCU has made intelligent growth moves. A good example is in the works in the new Village of Lake Hallie. RCU has acquired land for a new branch office there, anticipating the development that’s going to take place as new highways are completed.
Grossklaus can’t say exactly when RCU will build it. That will depend on the residential growth that is sure to come.
It’s the same formula RCU has been using for years.
"We’ve anticipated very well,” he said. “We look and see where the city is growing. We look at rooftops.”
RCU was the first out at the now bustling intersection of Golf Road and Highway 93. The branch office went in at Woodward Avenue in Chippewa Falls just as the housing and retail development was increasing traffic there.
Other examples are all over the Chippewa Valley.
Leading the rebirth
The corporate headquarters location is not, however, a result of looking at rooftops. That decision was based on looking back into Eau Claire’s river history and forward toward a rebirth of an historic area.
It’s all a matter of RCU seeing how it can be a community leader in a beneficial project.
RCU’s board considered 14 locations for its new corporate headquarters. It’s not surprising that the riverfront location came out the winner.
"Twenty-five years ago, I wrote a letter to the editor saying, ‘Let’s use our rivers,’ " said Grossklaus.
Downtown Eau Claire, Inc. and the Eau Claire Redevelopment Authority also approached RCU to urge selection of a downtown location
Grossklaus liked the idea and the message it sends.
"What are we telling people in the community when we build a major complex out in the country?" he said. "We’re sending a message: ‘Let’s slow down the urban sprawl.’ "
Numerous local organizations supported the project, including the influential Eau Claire Chamber of Commerce and the Industrial Development Corporation.
"I don’t think we could have got it done without the support of the community," Grossklaus said.
He believes public support reflected RCU’s image in the community. It’s an organization that encourages community involvement.
"Our employees have contributed 14,000 hours to the community as volunteers in more than 200 different groups," Grossklaus said.
The project
The new RCU corporate headquarters is a 100,000-square-foot, four-story building. Into that building RCU will move 17 departments, consolidating functions that are now spread all over Eau Claire.
In addition, it contains 13,000 square feet of leased space, available through Terry Weld and Donnellan Real Estate.
The architecture by design fits in with some of the historic buildings downtown.
RCU’s headquarters will be next to Phoenix Park, a city of Eau Claire project that will be in development for years.
The company will start out with 200 employees there. They will no doubt be looking for places for lunch, and the marketplace will no doubt accommodate them.
Already the project is leading to other development. A new Lehman Drug store will be built nearby.
"This will be the beginning of the change," said Grossklaus.
Once again, RCU is on the cutting edge.
Mark Gunderman is editor of Chippewa Valley Business Report. Contact us at (715) 723-5515, or through www.chippewavalleybusinessreport.com.
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