DUPACO COMMUNITY CREDIT UNION

Dupaco office at Kennedy and Hillcrest in 2009

DUPACO COMMUNITY CREDIT UNION. On July 17, 1948, ten employees of the DUBUQUE PACKING COMPANY pooled five dollars each and received a loan of $123.20 from the Amalgamated Meat Cutters Local Number 150 to form the Dupaco Employees Credit Union.

Membership was restricted to employees of the Dubuque Packing Company and their immediate families. Services included share savings and personal loans. Business was carried out from a part of the Local 150 Union office at 16th and Central and later moved to 620 East 16th Street. In 1950 Dupaco borrowed $5,000 from the Iowa Credit Union League to begin making real estate loans. Operations moved in 1958 to a new facility at 1465 Sycamore Street. In doing so, Dupaco became the first credit union in Iowa to have constructed its own office building.

The 1960s saw additional growth. In 1964 Dupaco was among the first credit unions in the nation to install an in-house bookkeeping system. Passbooks were eliminated in favor of computer-generated statement mailings. In 1966 the bylaws were amended to allow membership for in-laws and grandchildren of primary members. The following year, membership was extended to sons-and daughters-in-law of primary members.

Membership was further extended in 1973 when any person related to a primary member by blood, marriage, guardianship, or adoption was eligible. Share draft checking was introduced in 1976 and new office facilities were opened at Hillcrest and JFK Road in Dubuque.

In 1982 the DUBUQUE PACKING COMPANY was closed. The bylaws of Dupaco were amended to change the name to Dupaco Credit Union. In 1983 membership was expanded to include employees of any food-related industry in Dubuque County. This was again changed in 1985 to extend membership to any person living or working in Dubuque, Jackson, and Delaware countries. Discount brokerage and financial planning service were introduced. In 1986 the name of the business was changed to Dupaco Community Credit Union.

In 1990 Dupaco was one of only fifteen credit unions among 15,000 nationwide to be recognized for community involvement efforts. In 1991, it was one of only four Iowa credit unions to have assets in excess of $100 million. In 2008 the credit union had membership in excess of 50,000. It was chartered to serve Delaware, Dubuque, and Jackson counties in Iowa; Grant County, Wisconsin; and Jo Daviess County, Illinois. Construction in the 1990s included a new six-lane drive-up facility at the Hillcrest location in 1900 and a new branch office at 300 South Locust Street in 1992 in addition to buildings in cities outside Dubuque.

In 1991 the Dora Maxwell Social Responsibility Awards Competition presented Dupaco with its first place award in the $50-$100 million asset category. The annual competition, sponsored by the Credit Union National Association of Madison, Wisconsin, recognized credit unions that showed exceptional commitment to community involvement. Dupaco had received honorable mention in 1989 and second place in 1990. In 2005 Dupaco was named the recipient of CUNA Mutual Group's Roy F. Bergengren Award for High Achievement. President and CEO Robert W. HOEFER was inducted into the Credit Union Executives Society (CUES) Hall of Fame.

In 2008 when it celebrated its 60th anniversary, Dupaco served 52,383 members and had assets of $545,793,516.