Turning shovels of earth at the March 15 groundbreaking are, from left: Bob Green, vice chair, board of directors; Martha Ireland, Edwardsburg branch manager; Cindy Julius, chairperson, board of directors; Dave Van Strien, credit union president; Brian Hunt, general contractor, Hunt Builders; Tracy Snyder, Cassopolis branch manager; architect Tony Leininger of Carmi Design; and Dawn Bolock, Edwardsburg Chamber of Commerce president.

EDWARDSBURG — Greater Niles Community Federal Credit Union broke ground Thursday morning for a new full-service branch on M-62, on the former site of Legends.

The smaller Edwardsburg lending office just south of the location was established two years ago, joining a Cassopolis branch opened in 2006 and Niles, where it began as the Kawneer credit union in the 1940s.

“We’re looking at an open date of October,” when a third employee will be added, branch Manager Martha Ireland said.

The 4,400-square-foot building will have additional office space. Two tenants have already spoken for the space, credit union president Dave Van Strien said. “We may have a third. We haven’t decided yet.”

“With this branch we’ll have drive-through and ATM,” Ireland said. “It’s a very exciting time for us to become more rooted in the community.”

“Credit unions are growing very well right now,” Van Strien said. “We had our best year last year in membership growth.”

About 300 of the credit union’s 3,900 members are in Edwardsburg.