7 17’s Beginning

It all started with a box of cigars.

Emptied – and then filled with $75. Now – it’s a legacy of people helping people.

We at 7 17 can only imagine what happened in 1957, when 15 union members of IEU Local 717 working in industrial Warren, Ohio, came together and decided to they could serve their own financial needs in away other financial institutions at the time could not.

They searched for something they could store their pooled funds: a total of 75 dollars.

What they found was a cigar box. One emptied during evenings with friends and colleagues at the Packard Electric Division of General Motors. Cigars smoked after long hours working on the line, creating the electric components powering our cars – and subsequently our workforces and economy.

So they locked up that cigar box in their union hall and got to work.

What began as a financial lifeline for those workers built a foundation expanding far beyond that cigar box, union hall or even their imaginations. What started as $75 and a dream has now surpassed 130,000 members, over 300 employees and 15 branches.

Above all, what we at 7 17 do every day stays true to our founders’ cooperative spirit. Our products, like fee-free mortgages and a credit card with the best rate in the country, are designed to help our members. Fee reductions keep dollars in your pockets, and great rates help lift our community out of a cycle of debt. We call these programs Ohio Strong – because when you’re stronger, we’re all stronger.

Thanks for believing in 7 17 and our mission: Helping people improve their lives financially and supporting the communities we serve.