Bear Paw Credit Union celebrates 75 years

After years of name changes, mergers and continued service to its members, Bear Paw Credit Union will observe its 75th year of operation Thursday at its annual meeting.

Bear Paw President and CEO Al Vukasin Jr. said the meeting will begin at 6 p.m in Montana State University-Northern's Student Union Building Ballroom.

Lowell Swenson, chair of Bear Paw's Board of Directors, will conduct the meeting.

Bear Paw was called the Great Northern Credit Union Association when it was established in 1942 by workers of the Great Northern Railway, James J. Hill's railway company that built in the late 1800s the rail line extending west to Seattle running through the towns on Montana's Hi-Line.

"So, you had to be an employee of the railroad to be a member of the credit union," Vukasin said.

In 1971, when the Burlington and Great Northern railroads merged, their two credit unions followed suit and became Burlington Northern Credit Union.

In 1989, the operation became Bear Paw Credit Union and all Hill County residents became eligible for membership.

Vukasin said Bear Paw and the Northern Montana Credit Union merged in 1996, allowing people in Blaine, Liberty and Chouteau counties to join.   

Residents of Toole and Pondera counties were able to join starting in 1998, when Bear Paw and the North Toole County Federal Credit Union in Sunburst merged, Vukasin said.

The credit union eventually extended membership to residents of Phillips, Teton and Cascade counties.

Bear Paw's website says the credit union has offices in Chester, Chinook, Shelby and Sunburst as well as its main office in Havre.

Vukasin said business in 2016 was not as robust as it could have been due to continued depressed interest rates, but added that he hopes last Wednesday's news that the U.S Federal Reserve Board raised rates 0.25 percent is a sign of things to come.

He said that, at the meeting, Board of Directors Vice Chair Jeff Jensen and Secretary Treasurer Willard Fladager will be reappointed. Neither Jensen nor Fladager are being challenged for their positions.

Vukasin said he will deliver remarks about the financial figures from the past year, talk about accounts offered by Bear Paw and give thanks to  its 13,300 members.

Lasagna, fettuccine alfredo, salad and cheesecake will be served and a drawing for prizes provided by the meeting's planning committee will be held.

Vukasin said that prizes provided by the Meeting Planning Committee will also be awarded during a drawing.