A Moline, Ill.-based credit union broke ground today for a new financial center that will be located on an outlot near the east entrance to Merle Hay Mall, at 3990 Merle Hay Road in Des Moines.

The IH Mississippi Valley Credit Union branch will be the credit union’s first full-service financial center in Greater Des Moines, and its 13th across eastern Iowa and western Illinois. The 4,400-square-foot building, expected to be completed in the summer of 2023, will be staffed with eight to 10 team members to serve a growing member base in the Des Moines area, IHMVCU said in a press release.

“While our roots started in the Quad Cities along the Mississippi River in 1934 with eight production workers at the International Harvester East Moline Plant, this new financial center in Des Moines will be a continuation of that commitment to reduce financial stressors in our members’ lives and improving the overall financial health of the communities we serve,” said Brian Laufenberg, the credit union’s president and CEO.

IHMVCU markets itself as the Quad Cities’ largest credit union and the sixth-largest in Illinois, with more than $1.8 billion in assets and 140,000 members.

“We’ve experienced tremendous growth the last few years,” Laufenberg said. “In 2021, we put almost $1 billion dollars to work in loans for our members. That’s a big impact in our communities.”

The Des Moines office will be built by Estes Construction; the designer is Refinery Design Co. and the architect is Lundh Architect LLC. IHMVCU first entered the Central Iowa market in June 2021 with the opening of a loan office in West Des Moines, according to its 2021 annual report.

No additional branches are planned in Central Iowa at this time, “but we are always looking for opportunities,” said Amy Orr, vice president of marketing.