Union Bank & Trust will celebrate its 30th anniversary and recent remodeling with an open house April 26-28.

A dream years in the making, Union Bank opened March 27, 1976, at 312 Central Ave. as the anchor tenant in the then brand-new United Labor Centre. By the time of the bank's 15th anniversary in 1991, the Labor Review reported that the bank had assets of $25 million. Today Union Bank boasts $73 million in assets and its trust department manages $6 billion.

The majority of the bank's stockholders are Minneapolis union locals and union umbrella funds.

"We are one of the most successful banks in the country for our size," said Greig Payne, the bank's president for the past nine years. "We've been the No. 1 bank in the country for banks under $100 million in assets."

The bank's trust department, founded in 1981, is the third largest in the state.

"It's been a successful endeavor," said Dan Gustafson, a founder of the bank and longtime board member. Gustafson was business manager of the Minneapolis Building & Construction Trades Council in the early 1970s when he and local unions decided to pursue the long-held dream of founding a union-owned bank.

Gustafson recently recalled how he and Jack McKenzie, then business representative for the Bricklayers, went to union meetings for more than two years to seek support for the idea.

"Union after union said yes," Gustafson recounted. "We raised a million dollars that way."

"We for the first time in our history had an opportunity to control what was going on in the financial life of the city," Gustafson said.

In the first years, Union Bank concentrated on providing construction loans and generated "hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars of construction financing," Gustafson said. For building trades workers, "it created a lot of work."

The unions who invested in the bank saw another pay-off. "The value to the unions has tripled since their initial investment," Gustafson said.

Not every chapter of Union Bank's history has been a success, however. The bank opened a St. Paul office in the Labor Center at 411 Main St. but, seven years later, closed that facility three years ago after generating insufficient traffic and deposits. "The location just didn't work for us," Payne said.

The bank is now looking for a second location in northern Minnesota.

Finding a niche
In an era when giants like U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo dominate the banking industry, Union Bank continues to grow and thrive.

The bank supports community causes with generous donations while its employees volunteer for community service.

Personal service, above all, makes the bank unique. "Our tellers know people when they come in," Payne said. "It's what's going to set us apart in this neighborhood."

Longtime employees contribute to the bank's ability to provide strong customer service. Right from the start, bank employees were organized as union members. Out of 39 total employees today, 25 are covered by a contract with OPEIU Local 12.

Local 12 steward Linda Pietrzak, with 28 years service, is the most senior employee. "It's been a very good job and I'm happy to be here," she said.

Payne said Union Bank hopes to take advantage of the revitalization currently underway in the surrounding neighborhood. "We're looking to attract the new residents, people who are moving into the neighborhood? and in all of northeast Minneapolis," Payne said.

"With what's going on around us now, we're going to be more individual-oriented," Payne said.

He also noted that the bank will continue an emphasis over the past 12 years to develop business outside the bank's roots in the union community.

The recent major updating of the bank's interior was the first in 30 years. "Especially with what's going on in the community, it's time for us to modernize," Payne said.

Payne invited bank customers to come to the open house April 26-28 to celebrate both the completion of the remodeling and the bank's 30th anniversary. Coffee and other refreshments will be served.