Hardin Community Federal Credit Union

The Beginning

On June 30, 1969 the Board of Directors voted to organize the Kenton Rockwell Standard Federal Credit Union. This Federally Chartered Credit Union would serve the employees of the Kenton Rockwell Plant and their immediate family members. Membership fees were a mere .25 cents per account with a minimum deposit of $5.00. The official colors adopted by the Board of Directors were Navy Blue and White and all deposits were private funds with no connection to Rockwell International other than the fact that local Rockwell employees organized the credit union.

The Credit Union got off to a very slow start with most individuals at Rockwell already established with different financial institutions in the area. Board Members carried membership cards in their tool and lunch boxes and signed up new members on breaks and after work hours. Members were encouraged to use the credit union as a depository for a small amount of their checks as a forced savings plan for rainy days, weddings, Christmas, etc.

From this meager beginning came a desire from the Volunteers and Members of the credit union to build up deposits and then allow themselves the luxury of borrowing against their shares in the credit union. Initial loans were $400 and were paid back weekly from the members paycheck.

The 70s and 80s

In 1971 the Credit Union opened a part time office located on East Franklin Street in Kenton and in 1972 grew to a point that the membership needed more space. The Rockwell Union Hall provided office space for the Credit Union for approximately 1 year until the Credit Union rented office space in the Knights of Columbus house located south of the Rockwell Plant on State Route 68. At this location the Credit Union continued to grow its membership and asset base and provided basic savings plans and small personal loans.

In 1975 the Credit Union had $250,000 dollars in assets and felt financially stable enough to purchase a vacant lot on State Route 68 South, which now houses the Main Office of the Credit Union. The Board of Directors found a used, modular bank building in Huntsville, Ohio and purchased this to begin operations in a Credit Union owned facility. By early 1976 the Credit Union had opened a part time office and began serving members.

By 1985 the Credit Union had grown in size to $3 million in assets and at that time began checking services. Shortly thereafter, the Board of Directors contracted with Jack Oney to construct a permanent building. Mr. Oney began construction on our present facility in September of 1987 and the Grand Opening was March 8th, 1988. At that time, the Credit Union had the Board of Directors and 4 employees, Betty Joyce Collins, Sherrill Titus, Caroline Buyer and Linda Reese (Garmon). By the end of that same year, the Credit Union had grown to $5.1 million in assets.

In 1987 and 1988 the credit union began to accept other Employer Groups from Hardin County into the Credit Union Family and some of the first were the Corinthian, USV Schools, Kenton Structural, Employees of Hardin County, McCullough Industries and WKTN Radio. After Select Employer Groups began coming into the Credit Union, the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church Parish Credit Union and the Board of Directors of the Kenton Rockwell Standard Federal Credit Union agreed to merge assets and members in November 1992.

Into the New Millenium

As assets and membership increased over the late 80s and early 90s, the need for more and better services became very apparent to the Board of Directors. In May 1994, the Credit Union opened its drive-thru services and added the first of five local No Fee ATM's. From this point on, the Credit Union began adding all forms of services that would enhance our relationship with the community and especially our membership. Checking, savings, Certificate of Deposits, IRAs, auto lending, home mortgages, personal loans, VISA cards and recreational loans became normal services for our members to enjoy and take advantage of. By June 1999, the Credit Union had grown to $17.5 million in assets and began work on expanding the existing facility on State Route 68 to accommodate administration and more loan officers. Gerdeman Hovest Construction completed this work in September 2000. The office now houses 13 employees and a meeting room capable of handling the monthly meetings of the Board of Directors and Staff, as well as, real estate closings and regional credit union meetings.

In December of 2000 the Credit Union broke ground on our new facility located on Jacob Parrott Blvd and construction was completed by CKP. The "Jake" opened on August 27th, 2001 and has been a huge success. The new location better serves the residential and shopping areas of Kenton and surrounding areas and has 6 full time employees. At this same time, the Credit Union launched an effort to obtain a "Community Charter" for our credit union. This consisted of 3 years of compiling information about our County and area demographics to obtain the right to serve anyone who "Lives, Works, Worships or Attends School" within the boundaries of Hardin County, Ohio. This Community Charter was exhaustively researched and approved by the National Credit Union Administration to begin April 1st of 2001. At that time, the Kenton Rockwell Standard Federal Credit Union became known as the Hardin Community Federal Credit Union. At the time of conversion, the Credit Union was serving 45 local, select employer groups.