Navigator Credit Union is celebrating eight decades of serving the Gulf Coast, and festivities center around a special day in June. It was June 24, 1939, when seven shipyard workers met and planned to form a credit union to offer co-workers opportunities for saving and for loans. Today, Navigator is Mississippi’s largest state-chartered credit union.
The Mutual Benefit Credit Union was the name chosen by the Ingalls Shipbuilding employees who were the founders and first members. The name was soon changed to Ingalls Employees Credit Union, and decades of growth and expansion of services followed. In 2003, the name Navigator Credit Union was chosen by its members to reflect the broader membership base their Credit Union had grown to serve.
Today, the full-service financial institution has 13 full-service branches, with eight Mississippi locations in Jackson and Harrison Counties. The Credit Union offers innovative financial services such as Save’N Up Debit Card Savings Program and Credit Builder Loans as well as interest-bearing checking accounts, high yield savings plans, unlimited rewards credit cards, mortgage services, competitive vehicle loans, retirement planning and more.
A painting commissioned to commemorate Navigator’s 80 years, as “your family’s financial navigator” was unveiled at Navigator’s 80th Annual Shareholders’ Meeting in March and is being featured in anniversary festivities throughout the year. The painting, by a Jackson County artist, illustrates the unique communities the Credit Union serves: Daphne’s mossy oaks and piers; Mobile’s Middle Bay Lighthouse and historic homes; Pascagoula’s Round Island Lighthouse, bayou fishing camps, pine savannas and forests of Gautier, Hurley and Vancleave; Ocean Springs’ downtown marquee and the Port of Gulfport’s anchor. The state flowers of Mississippi and Alabama, the magnolia and camellia, are featured, and the Credit Union’s founding sponsor, Ingalls Shipbuilding, is at its center.
A lot has changed since that muggy day along the east bank of the Pascagoula River, yet the belief that “People Mean More than Money” is still fundamental to today’s Navigator Credit Union. Navigator continues to be a member-owned, not-for-profit financial institution working in the best interest of its members. To learn more about Navigator Credit Union, visit navigatorcu.org or call 800-344-3281.
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Please join Navigator on Monday, June 24, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at any branch for a special “Birthday Party” celebration. Members will enjoy light refreshments and commemorative party favors while supplies last. You can find the branch closest to you by clicking here.
