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Every organization has a story. Many are typical accounts of significant financial transactions, notable business acquisitions, facility openings, ribbon-cuttings and the like, generously sprinkled with the obligatory nods to navy-jacketed men and women. But good organizations, actually great organizations, tell stories that capture the audience’s imagination from the very start—stories that make you dream, that stand a paradigm on its head or that expose you to ways of thinking you hadn’t considered before. For many of these organizations, their account spans the decades and even the centuries; for others, their tale has just begun. The genesis for First West’s story occurred several years ago around a kitchen table in Abbotsford when two golfing buddies, who were also CEOs of well-established credit unions, decided there had to be better ways for credit unions to grow and expand in their competitive industry than through traditional mergers. Such traditional mergers were usually an immediate plus for the financial statements but carried a tremendous cost to local brand awareness, local decision-making and local market focus. Not long after, with only an idea and belief that things could be different and better, Valley First and Envision Financial began a journey together to draft the blueprint of a partnership that had the potential to achieve what was to that point only imagined. So the partnership began, with trying, learning, rethinking, recalibrating and on occasion, failing—but always believing. And the outcome was none other than we now call First West. Chapter by chapter, scene by scene, the First West story continues to unfold, with a third partner now on the journey. Enderby & District Financial and its members recongnized the times and led with courage, weaving their hopes into the First West vision of what can be. More than just a credit union and a partnership, First West is a concept and an idea—like the start of an adventure. It’s an experience certain to awaken the mind, heart and spirit to another way of doing financial services in Canada. And so First West’s story, our story, has in many ways just begun.
CoastHills is a not-for-profit credit union currently serving more than 58,000 members in Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey and Santa Cruz counties. It has 11 branches and a full service call center. With assets of more than $835 million, CoastHills is one of the largest independently owned financial institutions on the Central Coast.
Munising Community Credit Union is a Munising, MI-based company in the Financial Services sector.
A-1 Leasing is a Grand Rapids, MI-based company in the Financial Services sector.
Amercredit Crop is a Fort Worth, TX-based company in the Financial Services sector.