Columbia-Greene FCU, headquartered in Hudson, was granted a community charter to serve Columbia and Greene Counties as a rural district by NCUA. The combined population of the counties is 110,507.

Previously, the credit union’s field of membership included 21 educational institutions, 96 local businesses and 15 municipalities located throughout both counties.

Columbia-Greene FCU President/CEO Victoria Marrone, Ph.D., said she is “extremely excited about being able to serve all the residents of the two counties. This is a wonderful opportunity to bring our wide variety of member-friendly, low-cost products to all consumers, while growing deposits, loans and overall operations of the credit union.”

According to Marrone, some of the areas in Greene County are severely unbanked, and no other publicly available credit union branch locations are operating in the county.

The application for the community charter expansion was written by the New York Credit Union Association. The Association and credit union leaders from across the state also successfully advocated for amendments to NCUA’s field of membership requirements that make these types of expansions easier for credit unions.