CASCADE, Iowa—Dupaco Community Credit Union is partnering with Dubuque-based Creative Adventure Lab to open an “Innovation Lab” here that offers coworking space, innovation services, meeting space, and team building activities “designed to help entrepreneurs and small businesses launch and grow” in a rural community that typically doesn’t offer such a resource.
Dupaco and Creative Adventure Lab will work together to create programming content and expertise to empower financial education, community innovation, and entrepreneurship, the credit union said.
The space will host scheduled Dupaco financial education sessions and one-on-one consultations by appointment for both members and non-members. The Innovation Lab also features a Dupaco live video teller, which doubles as a publicly-accessible 24-hour ATM, the CU added.
“As a not-for-profit cooperative, Dupaco’s mission is to empower people and improve their economic and social well-being,” said Dupaco Chief Marketing Officer Dave Klavitter. “Small business entrepreneurship is one way to help people better their financial positions. This Innovation Lab is a place for people in the community to connect to each other and Dupaco.”
Dupaco CU said the Innovation Lab in Cascade is also supported by Dubuque County and the Iowa Economic Development Authority.
Regulation Education Opportunities
“While the location is not a full-service Dupaco branch and a Dupaco staff person won’t always be onsite, Dupaco’s Community Outreach and Education team will offer regular financial education opportunities, small business programming and presentations through scheduled appointments at the new Innovation Lab,” Dupaco said.
The $2.7-billion credit union said its community outreach team also will meet with members through scheduled appointments and will be providing educational programming and presentations at the Innovation Lab, which will be free for anyone to attend.
“The Innovation Lab is not a full-service credit union branch, but it is a point where members can connect with Dupaco,” said Klavitter. “So, we’ve simply dubbed places like this a Dupaco Connect.”
A ‘Connection Point’
According to the credit union, Dupaco Connect in Cascade will provide existing members a connection point with a live Dupaco video teller for many of the same transactions they can do inside a branch, such as deposit cash and checks, do withdrawals, transfers, loan payments, order checks and more. Dupaco employees located at a central location will remotely operate the video teller machines.
“We expect the video tellers to increase future opportunities for member convenience – to serve more members, in more places, with expanded hours of service,” said Klavitter.
Dupaco said it is partnering with the nonprofit Creative Adventure Lab because of its mission to foster creativity and innovation to benefit the community. According to Klavitter, Creative Adventure Lab specializes in using creativity and innovation to help entrepreneurs and small businesses be successful.
“More than 40% of Americans live in rural communities and these communities struggle to grow their economy and retain a talented workforce,” said Jordan DeGree, executive director for Creative Adventure Lab and the Innovation Lab. “Unfortunately, for these smaller communities, useful innovation and entrepreneurship support services are primarily concentrated in urban centers, leaving many entrepreneurs and businesses with a difficult choice to either forego the competitive advantage these supports provide or leave their community for a larger city.”