From The Victoria Advocate yesterday. We are excited to be able to better serve our members in Victoria:

Texas Dow Employee Credit Union broke ground Tuesday on a new bank at 1514 E. Rio Grande St.

The 4,900-square-foot branch will be a full-service site with tellers, a drive-through, ATM machine and lending services, said Luke Billeri, regional vice president of branch operations for TDECU's west market.

The site will bring 10 to 15 new jobs to the city, according to a TDECU news release.

There are a couple of reasons the credit union chose to expand in Victoria, Billeri said, explaining its positive response by the community tops the list.

TDECU receives about 300 new members a month from the region, he said. With that type of increase, the company had to grow to keep up its service levels.

It chose the site on Rio Grande Street to better serve South Victoria, he said.

The bank currently operates locations at the Victoria Mall and Mockingbird Lane and has a new site for mortgage, insurance and direct-lending services going in on North Navarro Street.

Construction on the new site is slated to begin Sept. 21, according to the release.

The project will cost about $2 million, Billeri said.

That location is slated to open during the first quarter of 2010.

The company is looking forward to the expansion, Billeri said.

"We're just really happy to be in Victoria," he said. "It's really a great community."

TDECU was founded in 1955. It operates 19 service locations and maintains more than 125,000 members, according to the release.