Langley Federal Credit Union. Spirit of community. Warmth of family. Pride of membership.

Langley Federal Credit Union began its roots in the mid-1930's. On April 17, 1936 National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Laboratory Federal Credit Union, the soon-to-be "Langley Federal Credit Union," was born.

Twenty-five employees of NACA each deposited $1 to pay the charter fee. That next month the doors opened for business in the office of Ernest J. Shave, the newly elected president. Assets totaled $275 and the interest rate was 1% per month on an unpaid loan balance.

At this time, $275 was equal to about $330,000 in today's market.

At the end of the 1930's, NACA Laboratory Federal's membership stood at 233 and assets totaled $11,463.

History Fact:

The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was a U.S. federal agency founded in early 1915 to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research. This agency soon transformed into NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), which is a well-known agency in Hampton Roads today.

In 1942 the credit union changed its name to LMAL Federal Credit Union (Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory). The next year, Air Force Civilian personnel were admitted for membership and the credit union joined the Virginia Credit Union League.

Organized in 1934 and headquartered in Lynchburg, the League is the voice of Virginia's credit unions and works to ensure the fulfillment of our affiliates' vision for a thriving credit union movement.

Assets and memberships continued to rise steadily throughout this decade. Many historical events of the 1940's influenced the growth of LMAL Federal Credit Union. World War II slowly brought the economy out of the Great Depression allowing financial growth for the credit union. Also, in this time period, many more women were entering the workforce, which created a soon-to-be-found opportunity for the future CEO of Langley Federal Credit Union.

History Fact:

The Virginia Credit Union League is the statewide trade association representing member-owned, not-for-profit credit unions headquartered in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

The start of the 1950's held great accomplishments for the soon-to-be "Langley Federal Credit Union." Some of the credit union's most memorable events happened in this decade.

The NACA's cafeteria in building 1227 became the credit union's "main" office. In the next year, assets increased to almost $300,000 and membership doubled. The credit union was given authorization to have its first cash operation to accommodate the cashing of paychecks.

In the year 1953, the making of LFCU's history is most evident. The current President of LFCU, Jean M. Yokum, joined the staff as a teller.

Finally, in October 1956, the credit union officially changed its name to Langley Federal Credit Union. The next year the Board of Directors voted to admit the Air Force military personnel to the field of membership. If they only knew how many future members would be admitted under that membership field.

In the year 1961, LFCU celebrated its 25th anniversary. It's hard to believe that the credit union was already in business for 25 years in only 1961.

In the mid 1960's, LFCU made Student and FHA Home Improvement Loans available.

In October of 1966, LFCU realized it was growing out of its first main office. LFCU staff moved from the overcrowded building to a new main office on the West Area of NASA.

Closing the 1960's decade, LFCU made its 100,000th loan and started the quarterly newsletter, "Reporter." During this decade LFCU had grown to nearly $10M in assets.

History Fact:

In the 1960s, the FHA (Federal Housing Administration) helped to initiate the production of millions of units of privately-owned apartments for elderly, handicapped, and lower income Americans.

In the 1970's, the credit union began to resemble a more modern organization. Emphasis on member education and marketing increased. LFCU designed its first logo and brought in loans with promotional contests and giveaways.

In 1977, the first LFCU "Bulletin" was published. The Bulletin is a collection of our member's classified advertisements for buying/selling items, or promoting private businesses.

Towards the end of this decade, the credit union had grown to almost $75M in assets, adding $65M in ten years and thus joining the nation's Top 100 Credit Unions. LFCU also began the practice of building branches around the peninsula, including the "Air Force" branch in 1976, shown to the right.

Also, the management of the credit union passed to Jean Yokum when former CEO Mike Pickens retired.

The 1980's was a very productive and technology-centered decade for the credit union. To start off the decade, in 1981 LFCU merged with the Peninsula Postal Federal Credit Union. Working to become a full-service financial center, LFCU initiated a MasterCard program and also installed its first in-house computer.

Towards the mid-1980's, the "Exchange" Automated Teller Machine network and CHIPS, a telephone transaction system, were established, thus giving 24-hour credit union service to the rapidly growing membership. To date, LFCU has installed seven ATMs, five branch locations, with two in popular shopping areas-Coliseum Mall and Williamsburg Pottery. A Member Service Center over MasterCard, Share Drafts, IRAs, ATMs and member inquiries was formed to deal with the largely expanding customer service requirements. A Financial Planning Department was also established.

In 1985, the new headquarters building and Coliseum Branch Office opened for business in June. This branch is still up and running, and is perhaps one of the busiest LFCU Branches today.

Also in this decade, the "Reporter" newsletter was renamed "The Leader." The Leader is LFCU's quarterly publication that gives members a quarterly update about the credit union, and also includes helpful articles with banking and money management practices.

In April of 1986, LFCU celebrated its 50th Anniversary with a celebration at the Hampton Coliseum. To close out the decade Televest, Inc. (wholly owned subsidiary of LFCU) was formed as a service organization to provide investment counseling services to other credit unions.

In the 1990's the significant advancement of technology was again one of LFCU's biggest accomplishments for quicker and better member service.

In 1991, a new online automated lending database system called LoanPro was installed which allowed LFCU to store, retrieve and process loan applications in a fraction of the time. The Information Center, 757-827-LFCU, was also opened.

In 1995, LFCU opened two new branches, one in Williamsburg and one in Hayes.

As shown in the picture to the right, a fully functional website, offering up-to-date information on products, promotions and rates became accessible to the public.

To finish the 1990's, LFCU opened a branch in Poquoson in 1998 to service more than 4,000 Poquoson members.

LFCU's total assets rose to over $614M.

In 2006 LFCU celebrated its 70th Anniversary. To date, assets total over $1.1B with membership reaching more than 140,000. In the next year, LFCU expanded its influence by opening the Chesapeake Branch, marking Langley's first location on the Southside.

Since 1936, Langley Federal grew from a credit union formed by a few, to one with over 175,000 members at the present time. LFCU redesigned its website to include an interactive component providing additional convenience for members. Many new facilities, ATM locations and electronic services were created to keep up with the technology of the century.

Some additional awards & achievements of LFCU in this time period include:

• 2003: LFCU named 2003 Air Force Credit Union of the Year.
• 2004: New Corporate Headquarters and branch at City Center opened.
• 2007: President/CEO Jean Yokum is inducted into the Credit Union Executives Society (CUES) Hall of Fame and LFCU wins the National Desjardins Youth Financial Education Award from the Credit Union National Association (CUNA).
• 2009: President/CEO Jean Yokum named National Association of Federal Credit Unions (NAFCU) CEO of the Year.