In 2017 we celebrated 65 years of community, volunteerism, and local entrepreneurship. Surely in 1952, when a handful of Weyerhaeuser White River Mill employees organized to pool their own savings to make loans available to others in their community they were unaware that their efforts would be the beginning of today’s White River Credit Union. These were hardworking, compassionate folks seeking to help their neighbors, true to the credit union industry’s longstanding motto of “not for profit, not for charity, but for service.” Those roots run deep and although today we define our community as stretching beyond the Enumclaw – Buckley plateau, with over 6,000 members, I am proud to say that we have remained true to those original core values.
Demonstrating our core values to “Immerse ourselves in our community with pizazz” and “Create fun with a dash of quirky,” we held blood drives, food drives, and school supply drives throughout the year. We made and served meals at Full Bellies, hosted a movie event, and no doubt you saw our children’s account namesake, Rocky Raccoon, as he waved and high-fived through the Log Show, 4th of July, and Holiday parades. With employees dressed in their finest Pirate wear, we celebrated International Talk Like a Pirate Day where we dressed up as pirates and offered offered low interest rate vehicle loans to our membership.
The financial statistics for the year 2017 are indicative of our continued success. We have granted over $22 million in loans to our community members and surpassed $75 million in total assets. We have posted gains in nearly every measurable category, including deposit growth, membership growth, and improved usage of our products and services. Combined with that growth is a strong focus toward safety and soundness. We continue to invest in technology to protect our members’ information including enhanced IT network resources and EMV chip cards. Technology advancements will continue through 2018, all the while, maintaining strong security, solid earnings, and strong capital, ensuring that your White River Credit Union will continue to serve the community for the another 65 years.
What truly drives this success is our people. I would like to thank the many individuals that contributed to our collective success in 2017.
To the volunteers and employees that preceded us these past 65 years, I thank you all for your efforts in building such a solid foundation for success.
To our current Board of Directors and Supervisory Committee, I thank you for your guidance, commitment, and support.
To our employees, thank you for your dedication and daily efforts in serving our members.
And to you, our members, I thank you for entrusting White River Credit Union with your financial needs. We remain committed to our #1 core value to “Provide ridiculously exceptional member service”…with a bit of fun and a dash of quirky, of course!
On to 2018!
-Brandy Fielding
