Our History Chartered in 1955 Ted McGill, working in the bottle house of the Olympia Brewing Company, heard about credit unions and started talking to his fellow workers about what a great idea it would be to start a credit union of their own.  After considerable persuasion (Ted called it "jaw boning" and he was very good at it), the union employees agreed and Charter #99 was issued to O Bee Credit Union on February 15, 1955.  One hundred eighty-one members signed those first bylaws and made initial deposits. Ted was ultimately elected Treasurer, and he and President Ben Hazlitt learned as they went.  Ted ran the Credit Union both out of his back pocket and on his dining room table for several years.  In March of 1958, the credit union board agreed to pay Ted $30 per month for rental of office space in his home and offered a salary increase to $300 for his services as Treasurer. Ted was still working full time for the brewery and conducting credit union business out of his wallet on breaks and lunch hours.  He would walk around the brewery with membership cards, loan applications and receipts stuffed in his pockets.  At night when he got home, he and his wife, Vi, would post the books and make the necessary bank deposits. In 1958 the board discussed the possibility of hiring a full time manager.  Ted quit his employment at the brewery and came to work for the credit union at the beginning of 1959.  That same year, the Brewery donated office space at 316 Schmidt Place.  This house was significant in the history of the Schmidt family, who owned the brewery in its earlier days.  Though some improvements were required, the house provided an adequate facility for the credit union for many years.  Two desks served as the teller counter, and the loan office for much of that time.  The "teller drawer" consisted of one zippered bank bag used by all! Eventually a partition was installed between the two desks to establish some degree of privacy and in the '70s, a teller counter was built.  In 1971, Bob Shogren proposed to the board that a $200 teller fund be established.  However, the board felt that was excessive and approved $100. Viola McGill, who had worked as Ted's right arm from the beginning, retired on September 6, 1969.  About that same time, Ted announced that he would retire a the end of January, 1971, and a committee was formed to search for his replacement.  The criteria developed by the board included the requirement that "applicants must be employees of the Olympia Brewing Company."  Robert E. Shogren, who had served on the Board of Directors for a number of years, was one of those applicants.   When the board chose Bob as Ted's replacement, he quit his job in the public relations department of the brewery and came to work to train with Ted.  During Bob's tenure as Treasurer/Manager, the credit union experience rapid growth in both assets and members. Bob retired in 1986 and for the first time, the board made the decision that the credit union was large enough to warrant a search outside its own ranks for a manager.  Bruce Cramer came to the credit union from Portland Teamsters CU. Growing Pains The first dividend was paid on June 30, 1955 (total dividend $175.03!) and at the end of that year, the credit union had 390 members and more than $70,000 in shares.  Copies of the hand written ledger cards served as the statements.  However, if there was no activity in the period, the statements went out blank.  There was no return address on the envelopes containing those first statements.  The post office had already canceled the stamps when they decided that they required a return address.  The envelopes were returned to the brewery.  Ted and his wife, Vi (who did the books) picked them up and took them home, where they hand wrote the credit union's name and address on each one.  They returned them to the post office by midnight so that the cancellation would still be good. In February of 1958, the credit union had reached the point where hand written books were proving labor intensive, and the purchase of a Burroughs bookkeeping machine was approved.  It served as the means for posting ledger cards and generating statements for ten years.  In 1968, when the machine was in need of repair, it was deemed impractical to invest any more funds in an outmoded posting method. The decision was made to contract with Data Processing Service in Spokane to automate our statements.  At the end of October, 1968, Ted and Vi stayed at the credit union until the accounts were posted, then piled in their car and drove to Spokane for the successful conversion.  Sometime later, while Ted was serving as a Director on the Washington Credit Union League Board, the League approved the formation of their own data processing service in Bellevue and the credit union converted again.  During its years with League Services, the credit union went from batch processing (where all transactions were mailed to Bellevue and a trial balance was shipped back at the beginning of each week) to an on-line system.  In 1987, the credit union brought its data processing "in house." Field of Membership The field of membership was described as "Employees of the Olympia Brewing Company, their immediate family and parents, brothers or sisters or any member in good standing, provided they live in the same household or received a majority of their support from the family." In December of 1968, the article on membership was amended to include retirees of the brewery.  By that time, fraternal organizations, partnerships or corporations composed of members, and employees of the credit union also were included in the boilerplate language of the bylaws. Until January, 1971, if a member severed his employment with the brewery (other than by retirement), the credit committee could require him to repay any outstanding loans in full immediately.  The bylaws further required share additions or withdrawals to be approved by the board of directors, and only share secured loans could be granted.  In 1971, an amendment to the bylaws added the "once a member, always a member" provision and former brewery employees were no longer required to seek financial services elsewhere. Santry Trucking Company became the credit union's first Select Employee Group in June, 1971, when the bylaws were amended again to include "any wholly owned subsidiaries of the Olympia Brewing Company." A Rose by Any Other Name At the initial meeting at Tumwater City Hall, a state official asked what the new credit union's name would be.  According to Ted McGill, Ben Hazlitt answered, "The Olympia Brewing Company Employees and Families Credit Union."  Ted, who was afraid he would have to write that name by hand "at least 40 million times" countered with O. B. Credit Union.  He claimed that when our charter came back from the state, the name had been changed to "O Bee Credit Union." In 1983, sale of the Tumwater plant to Pabst required a bylaw amendment to reflect the name change of our sponsor company.  Since there already was a Pabst Employees Credit Union serving the Pabst Milwaukee plant, the directors elected not to ask the members to change the name of the credit union.  The sale of the brewery to the Miller Brewing Company in 1999 again prompted discussion on the credit union's name.  The board of directors elected to retain the O Bee Credit Union name. Credit Union Independence In the mid-70's the brewery's union employees talked seriously of a strike for the first time.  Directors and management discussed the uncomfortable position of being housed on company property and the possibility that they would have to cross picket lines to reach the credit union.  In 1975, they approached the brewery about the possibility of the donation or purchase of land on which to build an independent credit union office.  The brewery donated a lot located at 205 Clark Place, just a few blocks from the plant.  This was a time of rapid expansion for the brewery, and one of the stipulations of the donation was that the credit union move into the old north warehouse down on the river during the time that it took to plan and build the new building. The credit union arranged for the quick clean-up and partitioning of the old office space in the west end of the warehouse, which had stood empty for a number of years.  The kitchen consisted of a hot plate and a refrigerator with dishes being washed in a plastic tub filled at the bathroom sink!  But floor to ceiling windows on the west end of the office provided a beautiful view of the river with its Canada geese and mallard ducks.  The warehouse had (and still has) a large bat population, and twice during its tenancy, bats were found hanging from the ceiling in the office.  The winding road leading down to the warehouse accommodated only one-way traffic.  The semi trucks that regularly traveled down that road to pick up or drop off shipments at the storage unit in the other end of the warehouse provided some exciting times for our members trying to reach the credit union. Expanding Facilities In July, 1976, the credit union moved into its new home.  It was heavenly!  New carpets.  Two vaults.  A real kitchen. separate rest rooms.  With 5500 square feet, there was a place for everything.  Half of the basement was unfinished.  (When the credit union later had to repossess an auto parts store inventory, this unfinished basement became the auto supply storage in the basement!) It didn't take long for the credit union to outgrow its limited parking lot and a decision was made to purchase the property next door and double the space available for parking.  The house on the property was sold and moved and we attained adequate parking, at least for the time.  The credit union remodeled the building twice to accommodate its growing membership and staff.  An early remodel added two extra teller stations and finished the basement.  In later changes, a second story manger's office was added and modifications were made to the loan and workroom areas. In 1993, bursting at the seams for both office space and parking, the board made the decision to purchase property and build again.  The fall of 1994, the credit union broke ground for a new 8800 square foot building at 3900 Cleveland Ave. SE.  On June 12, 1995, the new office opened for business without losing a single member service hour. By 1999, the credit union had again outgrown its facilities and a building was purchased across the freeway on Second Avenue to house O Bee Financial Services as well as O Bee's Call Center and Card Services departments. O Bee Financial Services In 1992, the board determined that the members' need for financial planning and investment services warranted the addition of a Credit Union Service Organization (CUSO) and O Bee Financial Services, Inc. was formed.  This wholly owned subsidiary of the credit union provides services that the credit union is not licensed to offer.  David K Littleton is licensed to offer financial planning, investment and insurance services. Expanding Services For many years, O Bee Credit Union's primary function was to pool member savings to make loans.  In 1969, travelers' checks and student loans were added to the limited services.  Credit cards for members were also discussed by the directors that year, but they "could see no advantage" in adding another credit card to members' wallets.  In 1976, with the advent of the new building, safe deposit boxes and checking accounts were added, but it was not until 1986 that O Bee offered a Master Card credit card.  In 1987, an audio response unit called TellerPhone was added as a means to provide 24-hour access and information on member accounts.  In 1994, the VISA debit card was added to a growing list of convenient services for the members.  In 1999, the credit union offered PC home banking, and in 2000, a second credit card, the Platinum Visa, and a bill payer service were introduced. Branching Out The first branch office was opened on April 1, 2004 in Dave’s Market in Tenino. The branch is housed in 600 square feet and features three teller stations, a loan office and manager’s office. The credit union joined the shared branch network in May of 2004, giving members access to some 1800 locations across the US and several foreign countries. Back to Top Last updated on Friday December 07, 2007