HUNTINGTON, W.Va.– First Priority Federal Credit Union is celebrating 100 years in business. It was chartered Dec. 1, 1925, and is the second-oldest credit union in West Virginia.
“Credit unions were established for a select employee group, and ours started out as the postal employees of Huntington, West Virginia,” CEO Krista Christian told the Wayne County News. “The reason they were established was for the people that had money were able to loan it to the people that needed to borrow money and didn’t have money. So, credit unions in whole were established for employees to help other employees.”
Christian’s father was on the board of directors.
According to the report, First Priority FCU would have been the first CU in the state, but Charleston Postal Credit Union was chartered about a week earlier.
A Walk Pays Off
Christian told the Wayne County News that she was always told that both credit unions were filing their paperwork at the same time, but CPCU received the inaugural charter because someone walked it over to the capitol building, whereas Huntington sent it by mail.
“For a credit union or any business to survive 100 years … sometimes it’s unheard of for a business to last for 100 years,” Christian said.
First Priority began its life as Huntington Postal Credit Union and then became Huntington Area Postal Credit Union before changing its name to First Priority FCU. It has an office in Huntington and one in Barboursville, W.Va.
It has a community charter open to anyone who lives, works, worships or goes to school in Cabell County or Wayne County in West Virginia, or Lawrence County, Ohio.
‘We’re Different’
“I think we’re different in that way because we want to make sure that anybody and everybody is able to be served regardless of what their need is,” Christian told the publication.
As an example, she shared that recently a member came in asking for a loan for $80, an amount no bank is likely to loan. The loan was repaid within three months.
“First Priority is a very financially sound financial institution. We have a lot of longevity with members, with staff and with the board of directors,” Christian was quoted as saying. “The longevity, I believe, is what makes us continue to be strong because we know each other. We know each other’s needs and we know how to reach them.”
