America First Credit Union, Riverdale, Utah, opened a new branch in Henderson on Sept. 13. Grand opening events included drawings for $100 Visa gift cards and a flat-screen TV. This is the credit union's first new branch since it fully converted five branch offices of the former Las Vegas-based Community One Federal Credit Union into its operations.

Belvoir Federal Credit Union, Woodbridge, Va., announced the reopening of its student-run credit union branch at the largest elementary school in Fairfax County. The Dolphin branch reopens every school year in October to provide students, faculty and staff the convenience of having a credit union directly on school property and to promote financial literacy to students. The Dolphin Branch is operated by 6th graders who show exceptional skills in their mathematics classes. Since every student is eligible for membership, the student tellers are able to learn the operational side of how a credit union is run and the student members discover the fundamentals of saving money.

Centris Federal Credit Union, Omaha, Neb., celebrated the opening of its newest branch inside Conestoga Elementary, an economics and mathematics magnet school, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and presentation assembly on Sept. 28. The elementary school student-run branch is a first for a credit union in Nebraska. The branch is designed to introduce the economic concept of saving money at an early age as well as increase parental involvement in children's lives through banking activity. The branch will be open every Tuesday throughout the school year for savings deposits only. In order to participate, all students must obtain parental permission. Incentives are provided as they reach various savings goals.

First Tech Credit Union, Beaverton, Ore., opened its first downtown Seattle branch last week, on Terry Avenue in the South Lake Union neighborhood. With this new location, which features a 24-hour ATM, First Tech now has five branches in the Seattle area.

Freedom Federal Credit Union, Rocky Mount, N.C., announced that it opened its fifth Harford County branch in Forest Hill with a grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony on Saturday, Oct. 23. The new branch is 2,565-square-feet and operates as a full-service branch, featuring two drive-thru teller lanes and one drive-thru ATM lane.

Hanscom Federal Credit Union, Boston, marked the expansion of its Bedford location with a ribbon cutting on Sept. 21. The Bedford Financial Center, located in the Great Road Shopping Plaza, is now nearly double its original size and features a retail-style floor plan, a 24-hour ATM vestibule, a coin counting machine, standalone service pods instead of teller lines, cash recycling machines instead of cash drawers, and two touch-screen Internet kiosks with built-in scanners for check deposits.

Navy Federal Credit Union, Vienna, Va., opened its first Arizona branch near an Air Force installation. The Peoria branch will serve 15,000 Department of Defense personnel, retirees and their families assigned to the 56th Fighter Wing at Luke Air Force Base. The 2,370-square-foot facility is staffed with a dedicated team of nine employees, and is conveniently located in Peoria Crossing, five minutes from the base.

Northwest Federal Credit Union, Herndon, Va., officially broke ground on their future Leesburg Branch-the credit union's first branch in Loudoun County, Va. This new branch will be located in the Oakwood Community off of Battlefield Parkway and is slated to open in spring 2011. The branch will feature timesaving amenities including drive-thru banking, a 24-hour drive-up ATM, a night depository, safe deposit boxes and more.

OnPoint Community Credit Union, Portland, Ore., the largest credit union in Oregon, continued its investment and expansion in the Pacific Northwest with the addition of three new branches in Deschutes County, specifically in the cities of Bend, Redmond and Bend South. The branches have created 26 jobs for the Bend and Redmond communities and are managed by Paul Stednitz, Hilary Greene and Michelle Loftsgard, respectively.

PCM Employees Credit Union, Green Bay, Wis., held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new main credit union facility on Oct. 14. Executives from the credit union and members of its board of directors gathered to make the construction phase of this project official. PCM Credit Union unveiled the plans for the transformation to its membership earlier this month. The new 12,500-square-foot facility will be located in Ashwaubenon, Wis., and will feature state-of-the-art, energy-efficient technology. It is expected to be completed in the summer of 2011.

Teachers Federal Credit Union, Farmingville, N.Y., reopened Brentwood High School's bank-at-school branch for the eighth consecutive year. TFCU, in cooperation with the Brentwood High School faculty, is again offering students the opportunity to do their banking at a convenient location in the school's career education center. The branch has grown over the past seven years and continues to welcome any student who wants to open a savings account. The program supplements the credit union's financial education programs that are presented in classrooms and student assemblies and that support the New York State financial education requirements for high school students.

The Tennessee Credit Union, Nashville, Tenn., has opened a branch inside Antioch High School. The branch will be open during school lunch hours and will be run by students who spent the summer interning with the credit union.