With a comfy lounge area, free coffee and Wi-Fi less than a mile away from the University of Maine campus in Orono, Maine Savings Federal Credit Union has provided students an alternative to Starbucks.

According to Maine Savings President/CEO John Reed, the opening of the $303 million credit union's College Avenue branch represented the latest piece of an ever evolving strategy to better connect and serve what some consider the elusive millennials.

Part of that long-term strategy began years ago when the Hampden, Maine-based credit union initiated discussions with and signed marketing agreements with the University of Maine athletic department. The move helped increase visibility on campus as its signage has been visible at every game in every sport from basketball to football and hockey.

It tied in well with Maine Savings' long established scholarship program where each of its 10 branches would annually award $500 scholarships to local high school seniors. With an eye on further deepening relationships with millennials, the credit union developed and launched a free RedWallet checking account, which allows account holders to choose their monthly rewards that range from cash back to iTunes downloads. In addition to easy access to online and mobile banking, members can also deposit their checks remotely using the Maine Savings app.

“RedWallet is all about the individual and the best part is even if someone doesn't qualify for rewards in a given month, the account still has no monthly service fees,” Reed said.

More recently, the credit union found yet another way to partner with the UMaine Athletics Department, this time to exclusively offer the Black Bear Debit Card. Each year of the five-year debit card agreement with the university, Maine Savings will give at least $10,000 to the Black Bear Fund, totaling a minimum of $50,000 for student athletes.

“With a portion of each debit card swipe being donated to the Black Bear Fund, the hope is we'll surpass the $10,000 minimum contribution each year,” Reed said.

Since many of UMaine graduates are staffers, much time has also been spent volunteering to speak on campus at the business school and providing opportunities for student groups to collaborate on credit union projects.

“We love it. It's been a great experience as the students get to develop and implement real world solutions and we have the opportunity to learn so much from them,” Reed said.

The idea of creating a millennial-friendly branch was the next logical step. Maine Savings seized the opportunity a few years ago to purchase land within walking distance of the university and took its time to invest in building a different type of branch.

“We know with technology today there isn't a need to come into a branch, yet studies also show that people still want a brick and mortar as well,” Reed said. “So we wanted to give any members in the community – local businesses, students or faculty – a space they could use to collaborate, study, create presentations or hold meetings.”

The result was a 3,000-square foot facility for millennial staffers designed to encourage conversations that featured dialogue towers and a lounge area fitted with flat screens, chairs, sofas, desks, coffee and Wi-Fi. Former University of Maine star and present Detroit Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard (pictured above), who is also a Maine Savings member, was part of the College Avenue branch's grand opening festivities. Fans lined up to have him sign everything from hockey sticks to a custom Detroit Red Wings pick-up truck.