Directions completes move with imprint on Toledo skyline

Barry Shaner, president and CEO of Directions Credit Union, at their new headquarters in the Tower on the Maumee.

THE BLADE/ANDY MORRISON
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As Barry Shaner looks out from the 16th story window of the new Directions Credit Union offices in the Tower on the Maumee in downtown Toledo, the credit union’s president and CEO is in awe of the organization’s growth over more than 60 years.

Nine men gathered in the church office at St. Clement Parish in Toledo in 1953, determined to start a credit union for parishioners. Toledo St. Clement Credit Union, Inc., was literally started with a box in a church.

Through time, the organization grew, absorbing other credit unions across northwest and central Ohio and southeast Michigan, and changed its name. And now, the tiny credit union started with a box occupies one of the most desirable locations in Toledo, with sweeping views of the city from three floors in the Tower.

Barry Shaner, president and CEO of Directions Credit Union, at their new headquarters in the Tower on the Maumee.

“We’ve got a long history in Toledo,” Mr. Shaner said. “We’ve always been a part of the city here. When you look at what’s happening downtown and you look at the same time the exciting things that are happening for Directions, it’s a great fit for us to be downtown.”

To cap off their official move, DCU contracted with Toledo Sign to place the company’s logo on the south-facing top of the Tower, nearly 400 feet into the Toledo skyline. It was a process that took over a week — thanks in no small part to heavy wind and rain during the planned installation time frame — but according to Toledo Signs sales rep Dana Fairchild, the completed sign will need little maintenance attention now that it’s up.

“That’s going to be up there long time,” Mr. Fairchild said, adding that the LED lights shouldn’t require any service over the next 10 years. “We’re a downtown company, too. … We want to use this as showing something that we can do also. It’s good for them, good for us.”

Most of the work on the sign was done at Toledo Sign’s location at the corner of Adams and 21st Street in downtown. Once fabrication was done and the sign transported to its final location on St. Clair Street, the installation was “turnkey,” save for having workers swinging high above the streets.

“There are guys that can do the job, and there are guys who simply cannot do it,” Mr. Fairchild said. “You want them up there no longer than they need to be up there.”

WATCH: Barry Shaner discusses Directions Credit Union’s move to downtown Toledo 

Having the sign added to the downtown scenescape has also added to the pride of the employees, according to Nikki Soldner, a marketing specialist who has been with Directions for five years. Looking to contribute photos to the organization’s Facebook page, Ms. Soldner went to the rooftop at Holy Toledo for a prime view and was overtaken by a sense of pride.

“It looked so cool because we were towering over the competition,” she said. “It was above everything, the image of that was very, very cool. To know that it was such a small credit union to start off with and it was built by everyone here and now our [sign] is right up top, it was very cool to see. I’m really proud to work here.”

When Mr. Shaner announced the move in February, 2017, many employees were thrilled to make the move downtown. However, there were a collection who weren’t thrilled about leaving their offices in either Arrowhead Park in Maumee or Whiteford Road in Sylvania. They were worried about longer commutes, traffic coming into and out of downtown, and finding parking.

But as those fears were allayed and employees became accustomed to the commute, the general consensus seems to be positive.

“The drive is not as hard as it sounds,” Josh Bailey, eServices manager, said. “The thought was harder than the actual reality of it.”

And once the employees began to use their new space, those reviews have been similarly positive. The design of the offices has a modern and progressive feel, with open spaces encouraging a free-flowing conversation among employees; individual workspaces featuring standing desks which can lower for seated use, and enough conference room space to fit every employee housed at the downtown location at once.

Plus, that’s not mentioning the views. Travel to any corner of the office, and views change from Fifth Third Field to boats and ships traveling up and down the Maumee River and an overall commanding view of downtown’s buildings and streets.

Caleb Parlette, an Electronic Services Specialist, works near the windows at the new headquarters of Directions Credit Union in the Tower on the Maumee.

According to Mr. Shaner, employees are encouraged to disconnect from their workspaces and take advantage of the views. Soon, employees will have their desktop computers replaced by laptops, giving them the flexibility to move freely around the office while not disconnecting from work.

On a recent Saturday, Mr. Shaner noticed a member of the call center team moving her chair and laptop to a ledge on the window, watching the goings on at Promenade Park while helping a member on the phone.

“That’s the way people work now, especially younger people,” Mr. Shaner said. “They want to have the flexibility to be able to go somewhere else and not sit at a certain position every day all day long.”

The changes to the culture at DCU doesn’t stop at 5 p.m., though. Mr. Bailey said employees have also eschewed leaving downtown right after work to stick around and enjoy the bars and restaurants. While Ms. Soldner hasn’t partaken in the after hours scene — yet — she has taken some yoga classes and explored her new surroundings. Both agreed meeting co-workers outside of the office can help boost morale and change their relationships in positive ways.

The new workspaces also encourage more collaboration, something that was difficult with different departments spread across the Maumee and Sylvania locations. For Ms. Soldner, working in marketing means being available to each department and having them available to her, so walking up and down stairs rather than traveling between different locations has made her work “a million times” easier.

“I’ve met a lot more different people,” she said. “It’s crazy to think I’ve been here five years, and you don’t see people because everyone was so spread out, and now you see people all the time, putting a face to a name.”

Employees utilize one of the many conference rooms at the new headquarters of Directions Credit Union in the Tower on the Maumee.

Encouraging employees to collaborate is one thing, but Scott Swan, vice president of loan development, said the employees have actually been taking advantage of their new proximity to each other. He added that the increased collaboration between departments can only help grow the organization as it continues to service its members.

Mr. Swan started as a part-time teller with Directions in 1998. There’s something appropriate about his rise through the organization mirroring that of Directions itself.

“Hearing all the stories of how the credit union started … to where we are today in downtown Toledo among some of your bigger players in the financial industry, you’re proud to work for Directions Credit Union,” Mr. Swan said. “You’ve got the PNCs, the Huntingtons, the Fifth Thirds, who have been banks who have dominated the skyline, and for a credit union to be a part of that, it speaks volumes for credit unions. We support our city.”

Mr. Shaner said this growth won’t change anything about Directions’ primary focus — to service its members. In fact, the hope is the move will only help enhance and improve those relationships and offerings.

And with a new home in Toledo’s skyline, the organization is going nowhere.

“We’re homegrown, we’re Toledo,” Mr. Shaner said. “We’ve always been a part of Toledo, and that’s not true of a lot of organizations. We’ve lost some of that over the years. Businesses move away, but we’re still here. That was important for us to say, ‘This is something that was created in Toledo, it’s grown and been successful, and now we’re downtown.’”

Contact Jeremy Schneider at jschneider@theblade.com, 419-724-6082, or on Twitter @j1schneider.