Progressions Credit Union plans to construct a second stand-alone branch next spring at the northwest corner of Nevada Street and Jay Avenue, says Susan Vuong, the organization’s president and CEO.

“We really listen to our customers,” Vuong says. “We just can’t ignore when they tell us they wish they had something up north.”

The credit union purchased two lots for the new branch, located at 9233 and 9249 N. Nevada, in Spokane, for $1.2 million in June, she says.

A pre-development conference application on file with the city of Spokane shows an estimated construction cost of $1.2 million. Preliminary site plans show a 3,200-square-foot structure, 24 parking stalls, an employee patio, and three covered drive-thru lanes.

Progressions Credit Union has been operating out of one branch at 2919 E. Mission, in Spokane, since 2019, when it closed a branch it had operated in a location shared with Spokane-based Canopy Credit Union and Spokane Valley-based Horizon Credit Union at 1212 W. Francis.

Vuong says it took some time to find a location for a stand-alone branch after the shared branch closed.

“We do know a majority of our members are up north, so we knew we had to have another option for them, and the price of land wasn’t getting any cheaper,” she says. “We decided to just move forward with this, but it wasn’t easy finding land to buy. There’s so much land to lease, and we knew we didn’t want to do that.”

Membership at Progressions Credit Union has declined 4% to 5,234 members, as of Dec. 31, 2021, compared with 5,446 a year earlier, according to the Journal’s most recently published list of Spokane-area credit unions.

Vuong says the credit union recently has selected Baker Construction & Development Inc., of Spokane, as the general contractor for the new branch project. Hissong Design Group PLLC, of Spokane, which does business as HDG Architects, is designing the new structure.

Vuong says four or five employees will staff the North Spokane branch, most of whom are current Progressions Credit Union employees.

Vuong says the new location will be a model for future expansions.

“We have all the digital services … but there’s still a need for personal interaction.” Vuong says.