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About Us ABOUT FIRST FEDERAL For many people, home ownership and secure savings typifies the American Dream. Making that dream possible for customers is the focus of First Federal Savings Bank. Local mortgage availability was needed in the Rochester, Indiana community in the mid 1960s, so, in answer to that need, Richard E. Belcher opened First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Fulton County in 1966. He began as President, and continues in that role today. By the end of 1972, First Federal had assets of more than $7 million. It became the first thrift in Indiana to convert from a mutual association to stock by issuing 130,000 shares in 1977. The name of First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Fulton County was changed in 1984 to First Federal Savings Bank to better reflect the function of the bank. Since then, First Federal has become one of the fastest growing banks in the state, with a strong emphasis on mortgage loans. First Federal services over $1.3 billion of first mortgage home loans. "It has been said that to survive as a small community bank today, one must have a niche in the market. Mortgage banking is and has been the niche that has worked well for us," Belcher said in a Rochester Sentinel news article. Branch offices were opened in Winamac in 1973, Bremen in 1974, and Plymouth in 1979. A branch in Elkhart began as a mortgage origination office in 1989, and became a full service office in 1998. That year also saw the opening of a mortgage origination office in Mishawaka. Although First Federal had a modest beginning in the back room of a neighborhood grocery store with only two employees, the bank now operates from six locations with 160 employees, including tellers, new deposit associates, loan servicing specialists, and mortgage loan originators. The size of the bank may have changed, but its foundation of quality service and flexible mortgage programs has remained constant. Fulfilling the American Dream of home ownership is the reason First Federal came into being in 1966, and that role of providing affordable home loans and secure savings continues to this day. |