An article was printed in the Cumberland Times-News requesting a meeting of all Allegany County teachers who were interested in forming a credit union. Catherine and Paul Footen, along with 50 other people, attended the meeting and Paul was elected treasurer. For the next 26 years, the day-to-day operations were handled from Mr. Footen’s Barton home. Throughout his service, Paul took little credit for his work, often heaping praises on his fellow officers: Joseph Haugen, vice president; John “Chip” Grindle, secretary; Margaret Ringler, director, and Ruth Hanson, clerk.
In 1964, as business grew, Paul hired an assistant, Eileen McDonald, a former secretary at the Board of Education. In each school, an assigned member of the credit union acted as a collector to handle payments from members.
Later, in 1974, working from her Holland Street home in Cumberland, Rosalie Shobe assumed the credit union’s operations. She recorded all entries in ledgers, calculated dividends individually, and then posted manually.
In 1976, the credit union operations moved to 1225B National Highway in LaVale, and Raymond C. Dorn filled the position as Manager/Treasurer. Mrs. Shobe, a director at the time, worked as loan officer and collector of delinquent accounts. The total assets then were a little less than $1,000,000.00, but by the time of Dorn’s retirement in 1985, the assets had grown to $3,000,000.00. The introduction of computers made the bookkeeping simpler. Payroll deduction was made possible, dividends were calculated automatically, and statements were printed quarterly and sent by courier to the school.
In 1992, Manager Patricia Folk and her staff of four moved to a larger facility at 14316 National Highway, the first property actually owned by the credit union. Much of the remodeling was completed by George Schoenadel. Later, a night drop and drive-up window were added to better meet the needs of the members.
After 68 years in existence, ACT 1st Federal Credit Union membership has grown to over 11,000 members. CEO/President, Christie Clark, now manages a staff of 46 employees and assets have grown to approximately $125 million. The Credit Union has four branch locations: one branch in LaVale, MD, two branches in Cumberland, MD, and our newest branch in Romney, WV.
Throughout the years, many new products and services such as share certificates of deposit, mortgages, credit cards, and debit cards have been added. In 2018, a full-service ATM machine (that accepts deposits) was installed at the LaVale office. The Credit Union also offers online banking, mobile deposit, a PFM product, bill-payment service, an Audio Response Teller and much, much more.
Today, ACT 1st Federal Credit Union offers full-service banking and an informational website to inform members of the wide variety of products and services offered.
Our organization, established by early volunteers and now managed by Christie Clark, continues to promote the trust that began over a half century ago. The cohesiveness of the members who support the organization, the volunteers who serve on the board and committees, and the staff who so diligently perform their duties while maintaining an open and friendly relationship, are responsible for our successes.
