NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Newport News Shipbuilding Employees' CU received approval from the State Corporation Commission, Bureau of Financial Institutions to expand its field-of-membership to include two areas considered to be "distressed communities." This makes Newport News Shipbuilding the first credit union to add an underserved community under the state's underserved-area regulation that was approved by the SCC and became effective March 2004. In separate applications both filed July 15, Newport News applied to serve the contiguous designated "distressed community" designated as the "Underserved Hampton Roads Community". With an estimated U.S. Census population of 437,058, the area includes York County and the Cities of Newport News, Hampton, Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, and Chesapeake. In its second application, the credit union applied to serve the "distressed community" within the City of Suffolk, with an estimated Census population of 19,000. Newport News Shipbuilding Employees' CU has approximately $816 million in assets and more than 70,400 members.