Profile: Grow Financial Federal Credit Union

Here's the story of how the seeds of Grow Financial were planted.

The year: 1955. The place: MacDill Air Force Base, Tampa Bay.
A civilian service employee named Frances Doughty notices an unmet need among the base's hardworking servicemen and women: easy-access, high-quality financial services. On a mission, she joins forces with Credit Union organizer John Lumley. John puts up $25 for a Charter, the two become the new institution's first account holders, and on February 14th, 1955, MacDill Air Force Base Federal Credit Union officially opens at the base. As Treasurer, Frances single-handedly signs up members from a converted broom closet—open only over the lunch hour. Dues to join? 25 cents.

1959: Membership skyrockets to 4,600, assets to $1 million-plus. No longer working on her lunch breaks, Frances now runs things as a full-time employee of MacDill Federal Credit Union.

1960: Rumors swirl of MacDill Air Force Base's shut-down; the credit union's numbers nosedive. Both dodge a bullet thanks to the Cuban Missile Crisis, which keeps the base and the credit union soldiering on.

Mid-90s: Under its shortened name, MacDill Federal Credit Union opens membership to select businesses and their employees throughout Tampa Bay—earning new status as a communitywide financial institution.

2005: MacDill FCU moves to a sprawling new corporate campus, centralizing operations.

2006: $1.6 billion in assets, 179,000 members, and 17 branches strong, MacDill FCU ranks as one of the top credit unions in the nation. Our matron Frances Doughty, who still maintains the same account she opened 60 years earlier, is proud as can be.

Flash to 2007. MacDill FCU unveils a brand-new look and progressive new name: Grow Financial Federal Credit Union. Our past and future, our mission and promise, Grow Financial says it all.

As for tomorrow? We'll keep growing right along with you, promising each and every member More in Return™.