There was a celebration near Little Caesars Arena on May 13, but it wasn’t because of the Detroit Pistons. (Unfortunately, they lost Game 5 of the NBA Playoffs 117-113 to the Cleveland Cavaliers.)
Instead, hundreds of financial professionals, community leaders, entrepreneurs, and developers gathered at 2175 Woodward Ave. near downtown Detroit to welcome Michigan’s largest credit union, Lake Michigan Credit Union, to the city as it cut the ribbon on its first-ever Detroit branch.
For Lake Michigan Credit Union – better known as LMCU – the opening marked a long-awaited arrival into Michigan’s largest city and one of the state’s most important economic and cultural hubs. And CEO Julie Leonard made that among her first missions when she became the organization’s leader in March 2024.
“This is a huge milestone for us to be here and plant our flag in downtown Detroit,” said LMCU CEO Julie Leonard during the ribbon-cutting ceremony. “The largest credit union in the state is here. The vision couldn’t have happened without many people, and his excitement from the very beginning, and it truly does take a village.
“When I came back to Michigan after being away for several years, we came down to Detroit and we felt the energy and the excitement,” Leonard said. “We knew that we didn’t have to recreate the wheel – it was already started here. We wanted to plug in and be a part of this.”
The excitement surrounding the launch was evident throughout the event, where executives repeatedly described Detroit as a community they wanted to join instead of as a market they wanted to conquer.
According to Chief Growth Officer and Senior Vice President Marty Peltier, the idea to bring business to Detroit materialized almost immediately after Leonard began touring company locations across Michigan and Florida.
“At the end of that tour, she said to me, ‘Well, where’s our Detroit branch?’” Peltier said. “And I had to tell her, ‘We don’t have a Detroit branch.’”
The response was immediate.
“She said, ‘Let’s make this happen.’”
That vision ultimately led the organization to downtown Detroit, where the new branch now sits in the heart of the city’s entertainment and business corridor near Little Caesars Arena.
“We looked at a lot of different properties, and then (Keith Bradford, president of Olympia Development of Michigan) brought me here,” he said. “I stood right over here on the dirt floor and I called Julie myself and I said, ‘Julie, I think we just found our Detroit branch.’”
Leonard said the transformation from construction site to completed financial center exceeded even her expectations.
“From that two years ago, seeing the dirt floor to what it is today – let me tell you what – this is way beyond my expectations that this could have ever happened,” she said.
While the branch opening represents a significant expansion for LMCU, company leaders made it clear that their strategy in Detroit centers on partnership and community investment.
The organization already serves more than 625,000 members through what is now 75 branches statewide. Founded in 1933, LMCU has grown into the largest credit union in Michigan, offering consumer banking, lending, mortgages, and commercial financial services.
Leonard also used the occasion to emphasize the differences between credit unions and traditional banks.
“Credit unions are not-for-profit,” she said. “We are here to serve our members. We give back to our members.”
That philosophy, she added, extends beyond financial products and into direct community engagement.
“If you haven’t seen us yet around Detroit, we are out and about,” Leonard said. “We are boots on the ground. We’re not waiting.”
To underscore that commitment, LMCU announced a new initiative tied directly to the branch opening. For every new member who joins the Detroit branch through the end of June, the credit union will donate $10 to Methodist Children’s Home Society.
“We want to give back to the community right away,” Leonard said. “We just want to link arms together and really amplify the impact and make as much difference as we can here.”
The event highlighted LMCU’s growing relationships with Detroit-area business and civic organizations, including the Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Women Business Owners, Oakland Thrive, and the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation.
LMCU’s Detroit market leader Byron Sanders, who joined the organization earlier this year, described the opening as both personal and professional significant.
“I’m excited about being here,” Sanders told attendees. “I’m excited about being in my hometown, working in my hometown.”
Standing before a crowd filled with local leaders and business professionals, Sanders welcomed guests to what he called “the heart of Detroit.”
“You’re right in what we call the District, right in what we call Midtown,” he said. “Welcome to Midtown. Welcome to Detroit. We’re excited to have you here.”
Sanders also connected the Detroit expansion to the credit union’s long-term growth strategy. LMCU has publicly set a goal of reaching one million members within five years – a milestone he believes cannot happen without a meaningful presence in Detroit.
“I wholeheartedly believe that the only way we’re going to get to our million-member goal is by going through the city of Detroit,” Sanders said. “We have to partner with all of you who are here.”
He noted that while LMCU already has strong recognition across western Michigan, opening in Detroit solidifies its statewide footprint.
“Whenever you go out of town, whenever you go to another state, and you say, ‘I’m from Michigan,’ the first thing they say is, ‘Oh, how close are you to Detroit?’” Sanders said. “So now we can say we’re right in Detroit.”
As the ceremony concluded, attendees gathered outside for the official ribbon cutting before returning inside for networking, food, and celebration.
The thread that tied the event together for LMCU executives was that it symbolized the beginning of what they hope will become a lasting relationship with the city.
“We’re here,” Sanders said simply. “We’ve planted our flag.”
