Credit union building new facility in Moses Lake

Horizon branches out to location at SR 17

MOSES LAKE — A Columbia Basin financial institution is moving to new ground in Moses Lake.

Horizon Credit Union recently completed the purchase of land for a new Moses Lake branch.

Located at the northwest corner of Highway 17/Pioneer Way and Clover Drive, the new branch serves as a regional hub for the credit union's Basin activities.

The new location replaces the existing branch facility at 800 N. Stratford Road in Moses Lake. The new branch joins Horizon's other Basin branches, located in Ephrata and inside the Moses Lake Safeway.

"Since the merger with Columbia Basin Federal Credit Union, we've been looking around for land as part of the merger to build a full, free-standing branch to replace the Stratford location," said Brian Grytdal, vice president of marketing for Horizon Credit Union. The merger took place in 2006.

The new site topped the credit union's list of potential spots.

"It's got good visibility, good ingress-egress and worked well for not only the location as you come into Moses Lake from the Interstate 90 side of town, but also the way development is pushing that direction, as far as our research showed," Grytdal said.

He said the new facility, anticipated to be between 4,000 and 5,000 square-feet, has a larger drive-in facility with a drive-up automated teller machine and more space than the present location.

"We'll have more drive-up capabilities and more space within the branch to offer some more comfortable settings," Grytdal said. "We're looking at all sorts of things we hope to have in there."

The branch is in the design phase and expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2007. Grytdal expects groundbreaking to take place in the spring.

"Time is ticking," he said with a chuckle. "We hope to be completed by the third quarter. We'll just see how everything can be put together."

An employee increase is not in the works at this time, Grytdal added, but the credit union is always looking to add more workers as efficiencies increase.

Mark Neumann, vice president of retail delivery for the credit union, said the new facility is an example of Horizon's market successes since the merger with Columbia Basin Federal Credit Union to better compete.

"It's just a much larger, much more expansive facility able to better serve the members in the Columbia Basin as it grows there," he said. "Through the transition, we have lost very little members that were Columbia Basin members, and we continue to open and add new members at a greater pace every month. Our loan base is growing, as well as our deposit base."