Horizon Credit Union earns chamber recognition

SANDPOINT — Horizon Credit Union, a member-owned financial cooperative in Bonner County for more than 20 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.

Ever since the credit union’s merger with Superior Federal Credit Union in 1989, the Sandpoint community responded very well to Horizon’s rates and service-emphasized approach to banking, Wilder said.

“Relatively speaking, we are still a small financial institution here, but those early days were humble beginnings, for sure,” he added.

Eventually Horizon Credit Union purchased an old service station site on Fifth Avenue and placed a single-wide mobile home at the 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.

For more information, visit the Sandpoint branch at 520 N. Fifth or the Ponderay branch at Bonner Mall, call (208) 263-7525, or visit them online at www.hzcu.org.