Horizon Credit Union, a member owned financial cooperative in Bonner County for over twenty years, received the Business of the Month award for March by the Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce. In 1989 Horizon Credit Union began serving the Greater Sandpoint community on Superior Street, sharing one-half of a duplex for office space with a young family. “She was a great cook,” recalled VP Relationship Manager Steve Wilder. “Occasionally, she would sate our pangs with a sampling of what she would be serving her family that evening.”
He recounted, “Ever since our merger with Superior Federal Credit Union in 1989, the Sandpoint community responded very well to our attractive rates and service emphasized approach to banking. Relatively speaking, we are still a small financial institution here, but those early days were humble beginnings, for sure!”
Eventually Horizon Credit Union purchased an old service station site on Fifth Avenue and placed a single-wide mobile home onto that location to serve members. “Our members were patient and supportive as we grew enough in the next few years to be able to build the branch on the same site that sits here today,” Wilder said.
In 2003 Horizon Credit Union opened a second branch at Bonner Mall, and in 2007 opened the Bulldog Branch at the Sandpoint High School. The third branch offered an opportunity to teach students about finances and their financial future. The four student tellers act as ambassadors between the credit union and their peers. They receive a budget and have an active say in marketing, business development, financial empowerment, community outreach, and branch operations. Additionally, they provide their peers with financial education presentations.
The Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce thanks Horizon Credit Union for their continued involvement to support area businesses and for providing financial education to train the next generation on monetary stewardship.
For more information, visit the Sandpoint branch at 520 N. 5th Avenue or the Ponderay branch at Bonner Mall, call (208) 263-7525, or visit them online at www.hzcu.org.
Photo Caption: Pictured, on left, is Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce board member and Ambassador Bridgette Bradshaw-Fleer from the Idaho Department of Labor giving the Business of the Month award to Horizon Credit Union. Receiving the award is Sandpoint branch manager Andrea Cordle and Ponderay branch manager Andrea Marich, on right.
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