Learn More About Where Fox Communities Began

Fox Communities Credit Union started from humble beginnings

In 1937, we were a group of coworkers who decided to work together to help each other to create better financial futures. We have grown a lot since those days, but we are still driven by the desire to make a better financial future for our our members and for our community. This is only a small clip from a special Fox Communities history video that we created. The video tells the story of Fox’s beginnings, how we’ve grown, and what makes us such a special organization (spoiler alert: it’s how much we care about each other and our communities)! We’ve made the full video available if you’d like to watch it – and you should – it’s 25 minutes of heartwarming history.

Brett Thompson: The formation of credit unions in Wisconsin occurred in the early Twenties. Credit unions really had a sizeable level of growth coming out of the Depression.

Greg Hilbert: In 1937, there were three employees that worked at the Combined Locks Paper Mill that decided it would be worthwhile to start a credit union.

Sharon Van Asten: It started in a little room in the mill in Combined Locks.

George Ulman: At that time, you had to be a mill member.  If you got a loan, they had to know you. It was basically a handshake.

John Rietveld: It was kind of a one-man operation. The Treasurer at that time had a checkbook in his pocket that he wrote the check out.

Sharon Van Asten: As they grew, an office was built in Combined Locks.

Greg Hilbert: They had opened up the membership eligibility to the Village of Combined Locks.

Steve Vande Hey: We moved up and created a new building on the edge of the property of the mill. And we went on to create Fox Communities Credit Union from there.

Brett Thompson – CEO, Wisconsin Credit Union League
Greg Hilbert – Retired President & CEO, Fox Communities Credit Union
Sharon Van Asten – Retired Mortgage Lender, Fox Communities Credit Union
George Ulman – Retired Board Member, Fox Communities Credit Union
John Rietveld – Retired Board Member, Fox Communities Credit Union
Steve Vande Hey – Retired Board Member, Fox Communities Credit Union