Two WESTconsin Credit Union locations get new look at two of its locations

Cheryl Hentz

Contributor

August 18, 2025

WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN – WESTconsin Credit Union has been serving the West Central Wisconsin region dating back as early as 1939 in Menomonie and 1974 in River Falls.

Today, the credit union has 15 different offices (as they’re referred to within the company, instead of “branches”) in Wisconsin.

Tara Buechner – (west) regional vice president, retail operations – said two of those offices have seen major changes this year: River Falls and Prescott.

The Prescott office, Buechner said, has perhaps the most dramatic change with a brand-new, stand-alone building right across the parking lot from the current location, which first opened in Prescott 15 years ago.

Construction at this office is still ongoing, but Buechner said it should be finished by year’s end, when the lease at their current location runs out.

In River Falls, Buechner said a major renovation culminated in a re-grand opening celebration earlier this summer.

Prescott building

Having had a presence in Prescott for 15 years, Buechner said the credit union has become “very ingrained and immersed” in the community, so constructing a new brick-and-mortar building that the credit union owns was the next logical step.

“Not only did we need the additional space to grow into, we also needed to share our commitment to our members in the Prescott community overall,” she said. “We’re moving into a more modern facility that’s better able to serve our members in the way we want to, and also able to highlight our full-service thinking that we have in our Prescott location.”

By “full-service,” Buechner said WESTconsin Credit Union offers loans for businesses and mortgages – “we have a Realtor® who will be able to be on site, we have WESTconsin Investment Advisors and we can house all of those individuals a little bit easier with the new office space layout.”

The single-story, 5,900-square-foot building, Buechner said, will have one conference room; newer, updated technology; and, for employees, private bathrooms, a breakroom and a mothers’ nursing room, per employees’ suggestion.

She said the space will also have flexible offices, not specifically designated for given staff members.

Additionally, Buechner said the Prescott location will have a drive-up canopy of approximately 880 square feet.

Even though the new building is located just next door, Buechner said it is no easy feat to move a financial institution from one location to another – though she noted there’s a considerate plan in place.

“When you’re talking about IT equipment, it’s going to be a very calculated and calibrated move amongst ourselves, our IT team, our vendors and such,” she said. “We’re not particularly new to this. We’ve done it before, so I’m confident it will go off without a hitch.”

Buechner said it will likely take a full day to move things in “the way we need to and the way we like to.” 

River Falls interior renovations, exterior facelift

Buechner said WESTconsin’s River Falls location opened in 1974 – which, in the early years, was housed within the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. 

Eventually recognizing the need for a stand-alone, more accessible building, Buechner said the credit union relocated to 1207 N. Main St., where it’s been ever since. 

The last remodel at the River Falls office, she said, was in approximately 2007 or 2008 – “so, it was time for a makeover.”

“We wanted to bring a more modern look to the location and freshen it up for our members and our community, and also for our staff,” she said. “And we found some great efficiencies with the way our offices can be set up.”

One of the efficiency improvements and changes to the overall feel of the lobby area, Buechner said, is the replacement of the teller lines with teller pods – creating more of an open concept. 

Each pod, she said, can accommodate two tellers, or what WESTconsin now calls “member service representatives” or MSRs. 

“If you picture a traditional teller line, it’s very blocked off and is a type of front-and-back experience,” she said. “This is more of an integrated layout, and the pods are more immersed in the lobby. Our offices are situated so that if they need to move into an office to have a more [private, personalized conversation], it flows that much nicer. We find the pods so much more welcoming and inviting for our members – steering conversations more toward relationship-building versus transactional service.” 

Teller pods, Buechner said, are also being installed at the Prescott location.

With the new construction and renovations, Brice Lyons, vice-president of facilities, said the credit union is also trying to utilize technology to help streamline things – “make things more efficient and more effective on our side.”

This, Lyons said, included an update to the mechanicals of the River Falls building.

“Overall, the building was getting old,” he said. “All the mechanical systems in the building were close to 20 years old. We updated the HVAC system with much more energy-efficient equipment. We also added solar [energy] to the building.”

Even with all the changes and additions, Lyons said no square footage was added to the 8,000-square-foot building.

Instead, he said they did a space study of all their 15 locations throughout Wisconsin, and determined there was no need to add square footage to the River Falls office, but rather “changed the layout of the building rather drastically.”

“Within the four walls, we touched every surface,” he said. “We were able to add a few more offices. We were also able to expand our conference room and have newer technology in it.”

Lyons said they also added a second conference room in the back of the building that’s available for smaller meetings.

“We relocated the breakroom to the back of the building, where it’s more employee-oriented,” he said. “We added one multi-use bathroom for our members in the lobby and added two new semi-private bathrooms – due to their location – for our employees.” 

Besides freshening up the look of the building, Lyons said this remodel gave WESTconsin Credit Union an opportunity to take advantage of some branding, one of which is a signature look to the exterior of its buildings. 

“Our front entryway is multi-story, clear glass with a swooped roof that ties in with our logo,” he said, adding that five locations have this similar look. 

Members, communities always come first

Buechner said the renovations at the River Falls location and the new-build in Prescott have taken or will take about nine months to complete, start to finish. 

During that time, she said there has not been one day when either office was closed because of construction.

Staying open for members, Lyons said, was and is of utmost importance to WESTconsin leadership and staff.  

“Our members are the most important thing, and we need to stay open for business,” he said. “People’s offices or work stations may be shuffled around at times as we need [while construction is going on] – but our full focus was/is to make sure we are open for our members’ needs and our employees’ needs.”

Lyons said getting the work done without any closure is a point WESTconsin Credit Union emphasized to contractors when selecting one.

“Sometimes, it’s a jigsaw puzzle to make it happen, but with the help of our staff, our internal planning and the work with our contractors, we were able to pull it off,” he said.

From an internal operations standpoint, Buechner said the credit union is “constantly looking for better ways to do things.”

“These two projects – our Prescott build and our River Falls remodel – occurred at the same time, and our vice president of facilities did an incredible job managing and orchestrating both of those projects at the same time,” she said.

WESTconsin numbers at-a-glance

Serving members primarily in West Central Wisconsin, Buechner said between all 15 locations, WESTconsin Credit Union has 438 employees and more than $2 billion in assets – making it the 12th largest credit union in the State of Wisconsin. 

As of 2024, she said the credit union had 124,158 members within its field of membership of 17 Wisconsin counties and 11 counties in the State of Minnesota.  

Kyrah Klika – (east) regional vice president, retail operations –  said besides traditional financial services, what makes WESTconsin different from other financial institutions is its approach to enriching its members’ lives and helping make them better. 

“We train our employees to offer some sit-down, face-to-face financial coaching with our members – which is something I think sets us apart from our competition,” she said. “We really strive to meet our members where they’re at – whether that’s in terms of budgeting, debt reduction or helping them better their finances overall.”

Klika said WESTconsin Credit Union also offers a large number of online resources.

“If face-to-face is not someone’s avenue, we also offer [a complete suite] of interactive and free online courses for financial coaching…,” she said. “What also sets us apart is our commitment to the overall message of why credit unions exist… We always tie things back to our purpose.”  

Echoing those thoughts, Buechner said the focus WESTconsin puts in relationship-building “with each and every one of our members” also helps set it apart.

Because credit unions are owned by the members, Buechner said WESTconsin is committed to making every community they serve a better place – participating in various community activities and contributing to local nonprofits.

Employees, she said, are also active in events or fundraisers that help improve the lives of those who live there.  

In 2024, Jenny Rathke – vice-president-member advocacy – said WESTconsin employees participated in 854 community events, doing a variety of things.

Also in 2024, Rathke said team members throughout all 15 offices collectively spent 4,263 hours doing volunteer activities in their communities and donated $21,086 to local organizations.

“Credit unions began with neighbors helping neighbors, and that spirit still drives us today,” she said. “We’re built to give back, equipped to serve and proud to stay closely connected to the people and places that make our work so meaningful.”

Recognizing that education is important to every student, in 2024 alone, Rathke said, WESTconsin provided financial education classes or resources to about 10,500 students.

And, since 1995, she said the credit union has provided more than $353,000 in scholarships.

“We’re incredibly honored to make a real difference in the communities we serve,” she said, “because it’s not just what we do, it’s who we are.”