Built on lasting values
Maureen Dolan
T.S. Eliot once said, “Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”
Smart risk-taking is the foundation of all great innovation. Successful entrepreneurs and business leaders know this. They live it.
A dozen employees of Potlatch Forest Incorporated took a risk in 1938 and created what is now P1FCU.
Those 12 employees pooled their own money to provide loans and other financial services to people who in those days were unable to access many banking services.
Their first deposits were kept in a cigar box, and early transactions were conducted from a car trunk.
From 353 members in 1938, P1FCU has grown to more than 100,000 members with two dozen locations now serving communities across three states — Idaho, Oregon and Washington.
The credit union’s success began with a risk, but it continues today because P1FCU has stayed true to its values, a chief ingredient in the secret sauce needed to create a successful business venture.
For P1FCU, those values are simple — hard work, sustainable growth and the power of community.
Read about this North Idaho-bred credit union in this month’s issue, and learn more about how P1FCU continues to provide economic value to its members while remaining true to its values.
— Maureen Dolan, BJNI editor
