Red Leaf Opens in Converted Kalama Fiber Federal Credit Union

KALAMA — The downtown Kalama Fiber Federal Credit Union drive-thru has two lanes, one for banks and one for coffee.

In early December, Red Leaf Organic Coffee opened in the newly renovated Fiber Federal branch on North First Street. The Coulitz County chain’s first franchise is owned and operated by Redleaf’s general manager, Anne, daughter of Lucas, Calama resident Muddy Alice.

Lucas said the store has “a lot of love and support” since it opened on December 2nd.

“Everybody supported us,” she said. “It’s been a great welcome to the community.”

After considering several locations, Lucas and Alice decided on Calama because Alice had always loved the community. Lucas said Red was close to his Reef’s first place in Woodlands.

The Karama location offers the same Red Leaf food and drink menu, but includes some “bonus specials” that fit and give back to its community, Lucas said. Starting in January, the coffee shop will make “reasonably priced” lunch specials available to everyone, but aims to give high school students more choice.

As Alice and her family prepare to open a new coffee shop, Lucas wants to get to know other local business owners and work with them to “do great things in Karama.”

The drive-thru shop already has a mix of locals and traffic coming from Interstate 5 and some credit union members, Lucas said. Fiber Federal is a longtime partner of hers, so the joint site is a good fit, she said.

The Kalama branch is the third joint location of the credit union and coffee shop, following Red Leaf on Dyke Access Road in Woodland and Fiber Federal in Warrenton, Oregon.

Megan Miller, Kalama Financial Services Center Manager, said:

Fiber Federal renovated its Calama location, which first opened in 2006, over the past four months, updating the aging building and installing a new Interactive Teller Machine (ITM). According to Miller, two familiar faces will continue to be in place to help members trade.

Miller explained that the new machine installed in the drive-thru can also act as an ATM and connect to a virtual teller, a member of the local staff who can assist members in real time. Members can complete most of their business on the machine, she said.

According to Miller, the machine will help reduce wait times when staff are tied up with long transactions, and the drive-thru IMT will allow members to become live tellers on Saturdays when the main building is closed. Additional time will be provided when contact can be made.

Members are often hesitant to use IMT, but after demonstrations and explanations by staff, they are convinced, said Heather Snyder, assistant vice president of marketing and community development. Almost every Fiber location has her IMT, she said, with a team of virtual contacts supporting every location.

“It’s very user-friendly,” Miller said of the machine. “Press a button and a live person walks you through the process from start to finish. We have received a lot of feedback about the positive experience of being a live person, a local established in a credit union .”