MONTEGO BAY, St James – Gateway Co-operative Credit Union, which opened a new branch in the Fairview area of Montego Bay on Monday, plans to set up shop in the parish of Trelawny by year end, as it seeks to take root across the county of Cornwall.

“This is not our only plan for expansion. In short order you will also see us in Trelawny because we intend to make sure that as a credit union in the county of Cornwall, everyone who seeks to obtain financial services will be able to do so,” Gateway President Lambert Johnson disclosed during the official opening of the Fairview branch on Monday.

He added: “Gateway is rock solid, we have assets in excess of $8.5 billion, we have savings of over $7 billion and loans of $5.2 billion.”

And speaking to reporters following the official opening, Ornell Badasse, the chief executive officer of Gateway Co-operative Credit Union, added that a space for the proposed Trelawny facility has already been identified.

“Before the end of the year we should be in Trelawny, we have already identified a place so we are going to outfit that now and get things going,” Badasse said.

He pointed out that initially, Falmouth will be a representative office which is expected to gradually grow into a full branch from where to market products and services.

Additionally, the financial entity also has sights set on offering services out of the parishes of Westmoreland and St Elizabeth.

“Westmoreland and St Elizabeth are certainly on the agenda and I say to you in another year…we are watching the build out and the cost because we have to manage our liquidity, we have to manage our cost as well, so if we don’t go full-fledge branches in these areas, certainly we will have representative offices to begin with, and then as the business grows then it will dictate what we do, but certainly Westmoreland and St Elizabeth are on the agenda as well,” Bedasse disclosed.

He further noted that Gateway is currently renovating their Church Street facility in Montego Bay, St James, to where they will relocate their Sam Sharpe Square operation.

“We are moving out of Sam Sharpe to 20 Church Street [Montego Bay]. As we speak now, we are renovating 20 Church Street so we are going to move our operations from Sam Sharpe Square to Church Street,” the Gateway CEO said.

Gateway, also has a branch in Lucea, Hanover.

In the meantime, Johnson was quick to add that Gateway is also in the process of improving its offering.

“As part of our strategic imperative, we are not only building brick and mortar, but we are in the midst of implementing our new IT platform,” Johnson said.

President of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry Janet Silvera lauded Gateway for their resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Nothing that I say this morning will truly capture how elated I am to see this development taking place today. In an economy where so many companies are consolidating, Gateway Co-operative Credit Union is expanding and for that they deserve the highest commendation,” Silvera remarked.