Shawano coffeehouse changes hands with former employee becoming owner
Home renovation show brings homeowners, contractors together
April 14, 2025
NORTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN – When RIPCO Credit Union hires team members, President/CEO Jennifer Grinder said leadership looks for employees aligned with its core values, including treating members “like they are our everything, because they are.”
Grinder said that mindset starts with her and permeates the organization’s three locations in Rhinelander, Eagle River and Minocqua.
As one of the state’s oldest credit unions, she said RIPCO’s member-centric approach has successfully carried it through the decades and many economic climates.
The first page: Serving paper employees
RIPCO’s humble beginnings, Grinder said, started in 1932 inside the Rhinelander Paper Company – serving the company’s employees and their families.
At the time, she said banks didn’t do much business with middle-class citizens, so, like many organizations, employees and their families pooled funds to create RIPCO’s origins.
Grinder said that premise is still alive and well today in how RIPCO does business with members throughout the Northwoods.
“Aside from regulations, we’re really the same today as we’ve always been,” she said.
Therefore, it’s not surprising, Grinder said, that RIPCO became one of the first credit unions to switch to serving the broader community, doing so in the 1980s – ahead of the wave that really only picked up speed with other credit unions in the 1990s.
Grinder said that progressive and inclusive mindset – with membership now open to everyone who lives, works or owns real estate in Oneida, Vilas, Forest, Florence, Langlade, Lincoln and Price counties – has served both its members and the credit union well.
Through the years, she said, RIPCO has grown through mergers and acquisitions of other, smaller credit unions, serving members through not only the three brick-and-mortar credit union locations but also a student location inside Rhinelander High School.
Having a student-focused and student-run location, Grinder said, has been a great way to introduce RIPCO to another generation of members.
In addition to offering services two days a week inside the student branch, Grinder said student tellers work in RIPCO’s Rhinelander office in the evenings and on weekends.
And, though RIPCO doesn’t have student branches in schools in Minocqua or Eagle River, she said those locations do employ student tellers as well.
Grinder said she is a big proponent of employing students who work alongside the credit union’s other employees.
“I love that program as it introduces them to a professional job at a young age, and many have proven to be our best employees,” she said. “They want to be successful, and many of the students who go to college and come back (to RIPCO) to work during school breaks and in the summer, which works well because our other employees often want to take vacation then.”
Grinder said it’s not unusual to have multiple generations of a given family as credit union members.
“Just yesterday, we had a conversation with a member who said they were a fourth-generation member and one of our student tellers chimed in that he’s also a fourth-generation member,” she said. “We have so many members who have been proud members for X number of years. And the same goes for staff with (some having) family members who worked at the plant back in the day, as that was a huge part of Rhinelander.”
Serving home, business needs
Grinder said those members are an integral part of spreading the word about RIPCO’s people-first, member-owned institution that she likens to a financial co-op.
Though some people don’t realize it, she said RIPCO is a full-service financial institution.
“We can do all the things you need to be successful in life with your finances,” she said.
For businesses, Grinder said that will soon include a relaunch of commercial services – which is happening during Q2 – with a particular emphasis on serving small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).
She said it’s about being there for them with the resources they need – whether that’s funding to establish a business or to invest in machinery, other equipment or other means of growth.
“We’re particularly excited to be able to do that because SMBs often get overlooked even though they are the heart of the community,” she said. “Up here, we don’t have a lot of big chains – almost everything is smaller, mom-and-pop and locally owned, which isn’t always easy.”
Grinder said serving members is a bit of a balancing act between embracing new technologies and advancements and remaining a solid, steady financial institution.
“We’re a cautious early adopter because we recognize we’re working with people’s financials,” she said. “Adding a drive-thru in the 1980s was an easy early adoption, and we were early with remote deposit capture in 2016. We want to invest in new offerings but also recognize we’re investing our members’ money in it.”
The credit union does offer all the mobile technology one would expect from any financial institution, something Grinder said non-credit union members don’t always realize they have.
“Some people just don’t realize credit unions have the same things banks have, and if their parents or family haven’t been a credit union member, it’s just a blind spot,” she said.
Grinder said RIPCO has grown its lending portfolio over the past two and a half years, adding 100% mortgage financing and a personal home improvement loan that can be processed the same day without a home inspection and appraisal.
“If the heat goes out, and it’s going to be a $10,000 project you need right now, we can do that loan that day without a home inspection, (with) just proof of home ownership,” she said. “That’s huge for people because when those things break, and we’ve all experienced something like that at some point – you need the help immediately.”
Grinder said that loan type is also available for non-emergency projects, such as building on a deck or replacing a deck, for example.
“It’s really about offering a product to members without having to go through hoops,” she said.
In typical small-town fashion in the Northwoods, Grinder said RIPCO also created a new personal loan product to serve community members whose businesses took a hit due to the lack of snow the past two seasons.
“If someone is dependent on the snow to make their money in the winter, and they’re struggling, we have solutions for them,” she said.
Serving members far and wide
Grinder said the radius each of RIPCO’s branches serves is bigger than if they were in a more populated region, but there are financial deserts in the areas in which many of their members live.
She said that’s also why RIPCO is mindful to have the tools and resources members need – so they don’t necessarily have to drive all the way to the credit union if they are some distance away.
“We never want a member to feel like they can’t come and talk to somebody, as it’s important they have those conversations,” she said. “But whether they happen on the phone or face to face, we are here. We recognize that when someone has a problem, they want help, they want conversation.”
Soon, that will be available via phone, in-person or via video technology – something Grinder said she anticipates will launch for members in the second half of the year.
“When that launches, members who want to open an account or loan can do so from their phone, computer or tablet,” she said. “Sometimes you want to do it in-person but are at home or can’t leave the office and this will offer that personal service without coming into a branch.”
Caring is an inside job
Those broad solutions, Grinder said, are complemented by the staff’s helpful approach to serving members, whether they’re looking for the best savings account or a loan.
That said, she said she is proud of the credit union’s ability to serve members more holistically than that.
Currently, Grinder said about a dozen employees are certified financial coaches with more staff being trained to become certified as well.
Pursuing this, she said, provides employees the ability to help people with budgeting, understanding their credit scores, building credit, rebuilding credit and more.
Grinder said that adds personalization to the education the credit union already does to create awareness of scams and fraud that is increasingly rampant.
“Every day, there are new scams, and it’s all about trying to help members learn about it in a way they can remember,” she said. “Creating awareness is a big focal point for us as an organization. After all, where do you learn about financial education? Wisconsin has done a good job adding it as a requirement for graduation, but people still have questions.”
Grinder said RIPCO is proud to be a resource and more than willing to have conversations with members to educate them without overwhelming them.
She said that’s the impetus behind the cross-training and continuing education the credit union provides to its 64 employees – whether that’s attending conferences or pursuing degrees – so RIPCO can be the expert in helping their members.
That, Grinder said, is part of why employees are likewise just as apt to stay with the credit union.
“I know it sounds cliche, but whenever we do an exercise about working here, we hear that it’s a family, supportive, trusted,” she said. “We work hard at that because you can’t just focus on members – you also have to make team members a priority.”
Giving back to communities
Grinder said that extends to team members’ volunteer passions within the community.
RIPCO, she said, provides volunteer time off that employees can use to support their favorite nonprofit organizations.
“We truly love being tied to our communities and giving back, and it’s not just about writing checks,” she said. “We really hold to it and are there for our members and the communities we live in.”
Grinder said RIPCO has been fortunate to have such a strategic, engaged and forward-thinking board of directors leading the charge, one that always keeps the voice of the member front and center.
“We have been intentional about having a board with people who look and feel like our communities,” she said. “We’re fortunate to have a wonderful mixture of community members who are focused on the strategy to grow for tomorrow without losing sight of doing what we need to do for today.”
