Fox Communities Credit Union is doubling down on its push into Waukesha County, with plans to open two more branches in Oconomowoc and Sussex by summer 2027 after establishing its first southeastern Wisconsin location in Brookfield earlier this year. The Appleton-based credit union, which has built its footprint primarily across northeast Wisconsin, is now steadily working its way south toward one of the state's wealthier suburban markets.
Fox opened its first southeastern Wisconsin branch at 12805 W. Bluemound Road in Brookfield, according to The Freeman. Chief Marketing Officer Melanie Draheim said the credit union already had clients in the Milwaukee and Waukesha areas before the branch opened, and that the Brookfield location marked its formal entry into the market, per the same report.
The credit union has not yet decided whether it will keep expanding across southeast Wisconsin beyond the two planned Lake Country branches, but it is weighing further growth based on community needs and how the new locations perform, the outlet's reporting indicates.
Oconomowoc Branch Tied to Major Resort Redevelopment
The Oconomowoc branch, planned for 1283 Olympia Fields Drive, will sit inside the Olympia Fields redevelopment of the former Olympia Resort property, according to city documents cited in the Freeman's report. The credit union has received approvals from Oconomowoc's Architectural Commission and Plan Commission, though it still needs additional approvals before construction can move forward, the paper reports.
The Olympia Fields project is a 65-acre, more than $100 million transformation of a blighted 1970s-era resort site into a mixed-use Lake Country district with up to 1,000 residential units and retail anchored by Sendik's Food Market, according to the City of Oconomowoc. The redevelopment previously drew a $250,000 Idle Sites Revitalization grant from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation to help fund infrastructure work on the site.
Sussex Site Lands in a Growing Business Park
Fox also plans to open a branch at N52W25073 Business Drive in Sussex, located in Highlands Business Park near the northwest corner of Lisbon Road and Pewaukee Road, the Freeman reports. That 149-acre business and industrial park near Highway 164 was developed by Wangard Partners, placing the credit union inside a corridor built for commercial and industrial job growth.
The Oconomowoc and Sussex branches will share a similar design and layout, according to the Freeman's reporting, with both locations designed by Milwaukee-based La Macchia Group, an architecture firm that works exclusively on design-build projects for banks and credit unions and has completed more than 400 such facilities nationwide.
A Long Road From a Paper Mill Break Room
The expansion marks a striking shift for an institution that started small. Fox Communities Credit Union was founded in October 1937 by paper mill workers at the Combined Locks Mill in Combined Locks, Wisconsin, and didn't reach $1 million in assets until 1974, according to the credit union's own history. Today it has 25 locations across Wisconsin, including a couple in the Manitowoc area, with its base of operations concentrated in northeast Wisconsin, especially the greater Appleton and Green Bay areas, per the Freeman's account.
The credit union has grown considerably since then, surpassing $3 billion in total assets and more than 140,000 members across 23 Wisconsin locations as of early this year, according to Fox Communities Credit Union. It is led by President and CEO Chris Allen, who took over in 2020 after former CEO Greg Hilbert's 40-year tenure at the helm.
To lead its push into southeastern Wisconsin, the credit union hired former BMO Harris Bank regional executive Shawn DeMain as Senior Vice President Market President, a hire announced alongside the Brookfield branch opening. The move signals a deliberate strategy of pairing new brick-and-mortar locations with executive talent poached from established regional banks as Fox works to build credibility in a market long dominated by larger institutions.
Fox's growth also reflects the broader strength of Wisconsin's credit union sector, which collectively managed more than $72 billion in assets statewide as of late 2025. Whether Fox continues pushing further into southeast Wisconsin after the Oconomowoc and Sussex branches open remains an open question the credit union itself has yet to answer.
