In the summer of 1952, several hundred factory workers in Mount Vernon, Ohio expressed interest in starting a credit union. That September, the Cooper-Bessemer Employees’ Credit Union was incorporated as a not-for-profit cooperative. Those factory workers pooled resources to help their coworkers. The first loan was to help a factory employee buy coal for the winter. After several years of volunteer staffing and using borrowed space in a small wooden building on Cooper-Bessemer grounds, the first building was built in 1962 nearby on Chestnut Street. In the mid-1970’s, Cooper-Bessemer changed their name to Cooper Energy Services, and the credit union changed to CES Credit Union. The Mount Vernon Cooper Energy facility is now owned by Siemen’s. In 1982, CES Credit Union acquired two small branch offices inside Flxible bus factories in Delaware and Loudonville from a NY credit union. Those branch offices eventually moved into new locations, 33 London Road in Delaware (2004) and 3030 State Route 3 South in Loudonville (2008). Other centers opened as the credit union grew and membership was expanded into several Central Ohio counties. In 1996, a new center (with corporate offices) opened at 1215 Yauger Road in Mount Vernon. The Utica center opened at 8 N. Main Street in 2006.