and the needs of Kootenay Savings members in the Castlegar district. The credit union has been responding to such demands and needs since the establishment of the original Brilliant Credit Union on June 8, 1965. On that day, 14 men chartered the Brilliant Credit Union with a total deposit of $126 and estab- NICK OGLOFF gj lished a locally-owned fi __ . properties chairman nancial institution. Sam Sookeroff, Alex Sookeroff, Jack Voykin, Nick Makortoff, Pete Voykin, George Deikoff, Alex Perever- soff, Mike Sookachoff, William Lebedoff, Paul Koochin, Harry Voykin, John Voykin, Joe Cheveldave and Alex Voikin were the men who originated the credit union. P.N. Voykin was the first president and A.S. Sookaroff was vice-president. Treasurer was Mike Nazaroff. At the end of December 1956, the Brilliant Credit Union claimed 69 members and $6,437 in assets. In the next few years growth was steady. By 1960, assets totalled $116,461 and membership was 265. Loans valued at $108,553 had been issued. A full-time treasurer was appointed in March of 1961. Between June 1955 and November 1965, the credit union grew and prospered in facilities provided by a local co-operative at Brilliant. The credit union moved into its first permanent home in November 1965, when facilities were formed in Castlegar. The following June, the credit union moved again to its present site at the corner of 4th pnd 11th in downtown Castlegar. During 1968, discussions were held with the Trail Credit Union and the Fruitvale Progressive Credit Union which culminated in an amalgamation of the three organizations to form the new Kootenay Savings Credit Union. This was accomplished in early January 1969. Brilliant Credit Union brought to amalgamation assets of over $1.5 million and over 1,450 members. Today, Kootenay Savings has reached $113 million with total membership at 21,000 in the West Kootenay District. The current renovations at the Castlegar branch is the second time renovations have had to be undertaken at that location to provide for the needs of members. Over a year ago, consideration was given to increas- ing the size of the interior space of the office by approxi- mately 900 square feet. That consideration led to the ultimate purchase of the adjoining building on 4th St. and the vacant lot and private residence to the rear of the credit union premises. A large parking lot for the convenience of members will be developed at the rear of the existing buildings. It will be paved and well lit with one-way access by way of 11th Avenue and one-way exit by way of the alley to 4th St. The private residence will be demolished. With 900 square feet of new main floor space, the remodelled credit union office will have a totally improved entrance from the corner of the property with a modern vestibule to improve the appearance of the building. An improved appearance will be dramatic by a completely new store-front extending the full length of the two buildings. New identification and other directory information will appear on specific stucco wall locations of the new facade. Interior main-floor space will have an enlarged lobby with a specially constructed vaulted ceiling. The teller counter will be re-located and extended to include eight positions. A new counter for Member Service will separate the lobby from a new confidential area for loans servicing. The insurance department will also be re-located to allow for expansion of services. The vault and manager's office will remain at the present locations on the main floor. A reception counter will control traffic into the vault, loans area and mana- ger's office. Thése renovations will provide space for the estab- lishment of an Automated Teller Machine (ATM's) which will dispense service on a 24-hour basis to Kootenay Savings Credit Union members by an encoded plastic card which will be available to members upon application. The positioning of the first ATM in the Kootenays ¢ will be in the new vestibule. Access to the vestibule (after i regular office hours) will be by the encoded card. The same card will access your own account for cash with- drawals, loan payments, transfers and deposits. An Automated Teller Machine will also be installed at the Trail branch office on Cedar Ave. It will be E operative at the same time that the Castlegar unit be- comes operative. It is estimated to be fully tested and available to members as early as May of this year. The development and maintenance of the eight branch offices in the Kootenays is through a properties committee appointed from the board of directors. Chairman of this committee is Nick F. Ogloff of Robson. Other members on the committee are Joe Chev- eldave of Castlegar, Peter Stoopnikoff of Winlaw, Bill Watson of Nakusp, Tim Jenkin of Trail, plus two members of the. administrative staff: Doug Stanley, Gerand Manager of Kootenay Savings, and Joe Kobluk, © Marketing Manager. This committee has brought the Castlegar project-to the point of accomplishment. Construction is underway. William Berg Construction Ltd. of Castlegar is the + general contractor. The properties committee retains the expertise of ; Greentree Developments LTd. wholly-owned subsi- diary of B.C. Central Credit Union in Vancouver. The E renovations and modications have been designed by Greentree who specialize in credit union designing, planning and supervision. Project Manager is Greg Caden of Greentree |, Developments Ltd., who has accomplished other projects @ for Kootenay Savings, such as: the South Slocan branch building, the Waneta Plaza branch office and extension, Fruitv: branch and facade remodelling, Nakusp renovations and the administrative office in Trail. unioh manager. Kootenay Savings at 1016 4th Ave. — has al- in the finance industry, the last five and a half years of that with Kootenay Savings. A Strange thing is, Craig never started out in the financial sector. His training is as an exploration geologist. Craig was trained asa geologist in university, and had a minor in commerce and economies. And his first job was not with a credit union, but an exploration firm. “It was a pretty exciting job. You were always working outdoors,” he says. How did he switch from geology to finance? Craig makes it sound simple. He decided that trekking halfway across the continent wasn't conducive to family life and besides, geology jobs were fast becoming scarce. So he decided to make use of his university training in economics and commeree, and joined the financial industry. That was 10‘ years ago and he's never looked back. Craig’s 5% years with Kootenay Savings Oredit Unio. started in the Trail office where he was loans manager, From there he went to Fruitvale, before he was transferred to Nakusp in 1962 where he topk on the duties of manager. He took over as manager of the Castlegar branch last September and is happy with his move here. Of course, he said there was “a little bit of an adjustment” moving from Nakusp to Castlegar. “Castlegar seemed like a big city,” he says. But Craig has quickly become involved in the community. He is an active member of both the Kiwanis Club and the Downtown Business Association. “Between the two it’s pretty hectic,” he notes. To get away from it all, Craig heads out on the water. He says he's a “fishing fanatic. Kootenay Savings... Moving Ahead with Castlegar! Expanded, Improved Modern Premises Much Improved Service Facilities Planning Ahead for Electronic Banking with A.T.M. (Automatic Teller Machines) We're remodelling because: Cg tr rt ny ry sida Said ae, yD aa iba f oe ie eget JA . Castlegar branch manager © We're Proud of Our Community and are Impressed by its Future Potential e Our Credit Union Members Expect Us to be ‘“‘Kootenay Savings continues to provide our membership with competitively priced services and still achieve our financial objectives. Co-operation is the main reason for success. Board and Management co-operate in establishing appropriate strategies and programs. The staff co-operates by working hard and effettively to implement the strategies and programs. The membership co-operates by increasing their utilization of Credit Union services and adapting to the changes necessary to achieve our goals.’ ‘Kootenay Savings Innovative, Aggressive and Ready to Respond to the Needs of the Marke place ALICE WATSON Insurance Representative atthe tlegar Branch of Kootenay Sevings Insurance Services Ltd. TRAIL FRUITVALE CASTLEGAR SALMO SOUTH SLOCAN NAKUSP NEW DENVER WANETA PLAZA comes of age Situated in a majestic valley at the confluence of the Kootenay and Columbia Rivers on the southern end of the Arrow Lakes, Castlegar is the vibrant heart of the West Kootenay. _ rn The city of-more—ttfan 7,000 is located midway between Vancouver and Calgary along the southern Trans-Canada route, and is the focal point of four major highways: Highway 3A goes north to Nelson, Highway 22 south to Trail, Highway 3 east to Salmo (and.Calgary) and Highway 3 west to Grand Forks (and Vancouver). It is no wonder then, that the city proudly proclaims itself “the crossroads of the Kootena: It is the focal point of the resource-rich region it serves and its future lies as a service and distribution centre. But Castlegar wasn't always this way. As little as 25 years ago, the city was bedroom community for the larger West Kootenay centres of Trail and Nelson. The economic base at that time consisted of Cominco smelter in Trail, the Canadian Pacific Railway, logging and small scale farming. Today, Castlegar boasts a major pulp and lumber operation, a fledgling industrial park, the region's community college, the area's only commercial airport, and a host of light industry — large and small. In those 25 years, a number of major transportation projects have been undertaken, including construction of the Blueberry-Paulsen highway linking Castlegar with points west along Highway 3. The Castlegar airport which was also built within the last 20 years is not only used by a large number of private aircraft owners, but has the region's only commercial flights. As well, Transport Canada plans a $6 million expansion of the airport terminal building, tripling its size. Pacific Western Airlines maintains a passenger and freight service, connecting the area with Vancouver, Penticton, Kelowna, Calgary and Cranbrook. Charter airline and helicopter services are available. The Canadian Pacific Railway travels south to Trail, west of Grand Forks, north to Nakusp, and east to Nelson. The Burlington Northern comes from Seattle and Spokane, Wash. and travels as far north as Nelson. As well, CP Transport relocated its depot from Trail to Castlegar in 1983 to take advantage of the city’s central location. Labatt’s Brewing Co. also has major distribution depot in the city. In 1966 Castlegar became the site of the province's first community college — Selkirk College. The college has about 130 employees at the Castlegar campus, with a student enrolment of more than 2,000 around the region. jor projects continued in 1968 with - the construction of the Hugh Keenleyside Dam seven kilometres upstream on the Columbia River. And in 1982 the city established a fully-serviced industrial park to handle the increase in light industry requirements. The park has 37 lots on Highway 22 in south Castlegar, within easy reach of the airpo The latest commercial enterprise to select the as- a nucleus of the Kootenays includes the Sandman Inn. It will offer 134 rooms, a 150-seat dining and coffee shop, a 250-seat tavern and a convention room that will seat more than 200. It is expected to open in mid-May and conventions have already been booked for the new hotel for this summer. As well, CP Transport constructed a new 1,525-square metre terminal here and Canada Safeway Ltd. just completed a new $3 million 2,490 square metre store to accomodate the growth of the consumer market that have been completed in the last three years include the provincial courthouse, a veterinarian clinic-hospital, a day care centre and a 34-unit apartment complex. Meanwhile, Kootenay Savings Credit Union is expanding and renovating a full downtown block. The future looks as bright as for Castlegar. The Bank of Montreal has chosen the city- for its regional commercial branch, and the branch will open here in July. The Downtown Revitilization Program will continue Many downtown businesses have taken advantage of the program to enhance the downtown with building facelifts, beautification and general cleanup of the business area. Now in the planning stage is an addition of a powerhouse to Keenleyside Dam. The project is expected to cost about $835 million and employ 540 workers at peak construction. Also being planned at this time is development of a hydro power station at Murphy Creek, 23 kilometres downstream on the. Columbia River. Estimated cost is nearly $2 billion, and the project would employ thousands of workers. In-service date for the dam is 1993. Castlegar is leading the region out of the economic downturn. That much is already evident in the city’s building permits issued for the first two months of this year. So far, building permits valued at $661,800 have been issued in January and February, compared to only $263,585 for the same period in 1983. According to Mayor ‘Audrey Moore, Castlegar has just started to grow. She said the opening of the new Safeway store “is the first of many good things to come.” The city has* received a great many more inquiries from interested businesses than last year, she said. Moore notes that the Bank of Montreal's decision to establish its regional commercial branch in Castlegar “is an indication of the role Castlegar is coming into. She said the branch is one of only about 100 in all Canad. “They see it as a central area,” Moore explained. think, that's a good move.” She said there are plans to develop a 32,000-square- foot mall adjacent to the new Safeway store, and the new Sandman Inn will usher in Castlegar’s era as a convention centre for the West Kootenay. “I think we have, the ‘obvious role to pick up the Interior's small conventions,” she said. “It's started already,” she added, “all we have to do is promote it.” ON THE JOB. . . Castlegar council at work clock- wise (from top left) Mayor Audrey Moore, Ald. Albert Calderbank and clerk/receptionist Leah Dreher, Ald. Len Embree, Ald. Bob Pakula, Ald. lyn Mathieson with Homemakers coordinator Laura Richards, Ald. Bob MacBain and recreation director Pat Metge, and Ald. Carl Henne with public works general foreman Jim Hendrickson TLEG Crap RHO