06 Jun

Navigator celebrates 80th Anniversary

Ingalls Employee Credit Union

Navigator Credit Union is celebrating eight decades of serving the Gulf Coast, and this month the celebration centers 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 8 full-service Branches in Mississippi and 5 full-service Branches in Alabama. 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 (MS) 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 are depicted. 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.

Please join Navigator Monday, June 24, 2019, 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.

A lot has changed since that muggy day along the east bank of the Pascagoula River, yet the belief “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.