Rising four stories north of Interstate 86, Idaho Central Credit Union’s 68,000-square-foot office building demonstrates the financial institution’s strong commitment to Bannock County and Southeast Idaho
That, coupled with recent and prospective branch additions and expansions — both locally and across the state — only bolsters the credit union’s allegiance to serving Idaho.
In addition to securing 10 acres near its Chubbuck headquarters last year, ICCU complimented its existing two bank branches with a third located at 1045 Yellowstone Avenue in April 2016.
“If you take all three branches combined, our traffic is probably up 20 to 30 percent just from people finding it more convenient,” said ICCU CEO Kent Oram. “All three of them are doing very well together. We did that mainly because we believe in being in Bannock County and eastern Idaho and thought it was time to build a newer branch here in Pocatello.”
Oram said the Yellowstone location was a spot the company had its eyes on for a while and with a branch on Benton Street and one in Chubbuck, he thought something was missing, specifically in the middle of the Gate City.
“We opened that branch earlier this year and the reception to it from the community has been tremendous,” he said. “We’ve been building branches for years in other parts of the state, but the Chubbuck branch and the new one on Yellowstone shows a commitment to the towns.”
Seven months after the state-chartered credit union first opened in 1940, the business reported $298.93 in assets at year-end and 22 members. Almost 75 years later, the credit union has amassed $2 billion in assets in 2015.
According to Oram, the extension off the freeway in Chubbuck is just the beginning.
“We bought all the property around us to create a campus atmosphere,” Oram said. “As you watch the construction that’s underway right now, there is a lot of landscaping and infrastructure work being done.”
The headquarter location will feature another building to serve as a garage storage unit, with a few offices to house a maintenance facilities area. That will be completed around June 2017.
In the fall of 2016, ICCU started construction on another facility about the same size of the current headquarters in Chubbuck.
Oram said it will be two stories tall instead of four and will house the IT area and call center. It will feature power redundancy, providing 100 percent backup while being disaster proof.
“We will put some people in there that need all-time access no matter what the weather is outside,” Oram said. “That is targeted to be done towards the end of 2018.”
ICCU has always had a market in Pocatello, according to Oram. The decision to build the branch on Yellowstone in Pocatello followed a public outcry for additional services.
With the expansion comes more opportunity for job growth in the area.
“When I started being the CEO of Idaho Central in 2007, we had 268 employees all across Idaho,” Oram said. “Today we’re at 325 just in Bannock County and 750 statewide. That job growth that we’ve seen from 2007 to now in Bannock County alone is significant. And then if you contemplate doubling our floor space here in Bannock County, our employee count could eventually reach 500 or 600 people.”
Oram added the decision to headquarter in Chubbuck is because of the tight relationship with Idaho State University and access to well-qualified and educated graduates.
“We like to be involved with the university because this is a college town and we’re part of the town, but our relationship with Idaho State is more about hiring and cultivating talent and helping the university expand,” Oram said.
While growth is vital to its success, ICCU remains focused on its mission: “Helping members achieve financial success, by providing exceptional service and diverse products to our membership.”
This exceptional service starts with treating its employees exceptionally.
“We have really good market acceptance and I think that comes from the people we’ve hired and how we train, motivate and reward them,” Oram said. “I’m a real strong believer in our team members and the power that they have. When the workforce is happy, excited and energized, then people in the communities that we’re operating in feel that.”
Oram, who has been with ICCU for over 33 years, said the company survived the financial meltdown of 2008 following the housing market crash by aggressively lending while many others were pulling back.
One of the biggest questions Oram has on his mind is what will happen to financial services over the long haul.
“There is a big trend to electronic transactions, and we’re trying to study those trends and see what it means for the future,” he said.
No matter what lies in store for the team at ICCU, its future will forever be tied to Idaho, and more so to the East Idaho area, particularly Chubbuck and Pocatello.
“We’re an Idaho based institution, we intend on staying in Idaho,” Oram said. “We love Idaho, we love the people here and think that the conservative nature of our state serves financial institutions very well. We’re just excited for the long haul.”
