ATTICA WYOMING CREDIT UNION
Attica Wyoming credit union has been serving correctional employees and their families since 1935. The original business was run out of someone's basement, with the goal in mind of providing financial banking services to correctional officers and other prison employees who work at the Attica Correctional Facility or Wyoming Correctional Facility. The business has since expanded, and is now located in the building pictured. Not only have it expanded into a bigger building since it was formed, but it has also adopted a wider range of clientele. Present day, the credit union serves those who work at any businesses in the town of Attica, rather than exclusively those who work in the prison. They serve clients from Attica, but also from surrounding towns such as Batavia, Rochester, and Syracuse.
Questions without answers
If 90% of Attica doesn't work at the prison, what do they do? Why is the prison still needed for economic growth, or is it now more for maintaining stability? If it was initially constructed partly to bring jobs to the area, it clearly isn't anymore… So who profits now? Why does the prison stay? How is this credit union still in operation when most of its clientele is made up of people who work at Attica prison, and thus don't live in town?
ECONOMICS IN ATTICA
Does the town of Attica depend on the prison for economic stability?
Although part of the reason the prison was built in Attica was to help the town economically by providing jobs to its residents, it is clear that the prison is no longer the primary place where residents of Attica are employed. In fact, most of the people who work at the prison are from the towns adjacent to Attica, such as Batavia. Since Attica is no longer reliant on the prison to maintain economic stability, the question comes up of whether or not it is still productive to have the prison in Attica. Would moving the location of this prison to a different town be a good idea? How much would the town be transformed if the prison were to no longer be there?
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Visiting the Attica Wyoming Credit Union was an excellent way to gain insight into the way the town operates and where most people are employed. While it was originally founded to serve correctional officers and their families, it has since changed to serve all those who work at different businesses in Attica, and is no longer exclusively for prison employees. This led us to conclude that the prison's prominence in the town has decreased since it's initial construction. This is mainly apparent when considering the change in the clients the Attica Wyoming Credit Union takes on.
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