NavyArmy expands its footprint in the Rio Grande Valley
Article - Rio Grande Guardian
MCALLEN, Texas – NavyArmy Community Credit Union held a topping out ceremony for its new Rio Grande Valley regional branch last week.
The branch is being constructed by Noble Texas Builders at 9100 N. 10th Street in McAllen.
“This is going to be our flagship branch in the Valley. We are just excited about it. We want to fulfill our commitment to the communities and the people of the Valley,” Gerry Morrow, CEO and president of NavyArmy, told the Rio Grande Guardian and Ron Whitlock Reports.
NavyArmy started out in the Corpus Christi area in 1955. Its headquarters are still in the city. It is the sixth largest credit union in Texas and around the 82nd largest in U.S.
“We currently have about four billion dollars in assets. We are the largest financial institution domiciled south of San Antonio,” Morrow said, proudly.
NavyArmy’s new branch in McAllen is slated to open later this year, he said.
“We expanded down into the Valley in 2012. Since then, we have had phenomenal growth down here and we keep expanding our footprint from Brownsville to Mission,” Morrow said.
Right now, NavyArmy has about 90 staff in the Valley. Its total number is around 360.
“We have room for about 700. We have strong expansion plans for the Valley,” Morrow said.
Asked why NavyArmy was building its regional HQ away from downtown on quieter part of N. 10th, Morrow said: “Our strategy is not so much where the commerce is but more where the rooftops are, where our members live and where they shop and that kind of thing.”
That said, Morrow noted the expansion of the Valley, especially the McAllen-Edinburg area, with development stretching north all the way to Monte Cristo.
Asked what services NavyArmy offer, Morrow said: “Anybody can be a member of our credit union. We are a not-for-profit, member owned co-op. We serve the community. Our products are like any other financial institution. Mainly we concentrate on the consumer projects, the people that want automobiles, mortgage loans, personal loans, those types of things. We do some commercial lending but our mainstay is what the need of the consumer is.”
Asked where else they are located in the Valley, Morrow said: “We recently completed a building in Brownsville. We completed a building about two years ago in Mission. We have built a building in Weslaco. And continue to look for properties with which to expand our branch footprint in the Valley. Again, the growth down here has been phenomenal.”
Morrow said it would be remiss not to give a shout-out to NavyArmy’s partners, Noble Texas Builders, which constructs its branches, and Dykema Architects.
“Noble is a strategic partner of ours. They have built several buildings for us. They are trusted partners and we deal with them exclusively,” Morrow said.
“We have been with the architects for 26 years. They have done all of our branches and all of our design work. We are very consistent about what we do and how we look. They work very well with our build partners. We have great teamwork. Outstanding teamwork.”
Rene Capistran, president and CEO of Noble Texas Builders, said it is an honor to work with NavyArmy.
“We are not in the business of building buildings. We are in the business of building relationships. NavyArmy is a prime example of what we are striving to do with our clients. It is all an effort for team. They have a great architect in Dykema,” Capistran told Ron Whitlock Reports and the Rio Grande Guardian.
Noble’s first project with NavyArmy was the small renovation of an existing building in Weslaco. Since then the company has also built branches in Brownsville and Port Aransas.
“The Weslaco project was small in value but it was huge for us. The fact that we got to work with a corporate client that really shared in our core values, was huge. Today, in 2021, this is our fourth project with them. I attribute our success to our shared values,” Capistran.
“We don’t go in the market and bid for work aggressively. We build relationships with the client and we have ongoing business opportunities with them. So, it has been a great relationship. We look forward to the future with them as well.”
Asked to comment on NavyArmy, Capistran said: “One of the beautiful things about NavyArmy is their involvement in the community. The same way as we are. I think that is why I keep emphasizing our core values. I think we think very similarly. We consider them our big brother. We are just excited to be working with them, to be part of the team.”
Asked what Noble’s core values are, Capistran said: “Trust, community, our people. At the end of the day, our goal is in our mission statement, which is to inspire hope, improve life and strengthen the communities we live in. That is sole reason we exist.”
