One of Blue Federal Credit Union’s employees nominated the nonprofit for the Torch Award because of a key word: ethics.
One of Blue Federal Credit Union’s employees nominated the nonprofit for the Torch Award because of a key word: ethics.
“I wanted to highlight Blue’s ethics, the high ethical standards that we do and carry out every day,” said Chandler Elmore, public relations manager for Blue Federal Credit Union in Cheyenne, Wyo. “And it was during COVID where we wanted to highlight that, hey, we’re still committed to this.”
Ethics and trust, two cornerstones of the Better Business Bureau Serving Northern Colorado and Wyoming, also are foundational to Blue Federal. The credit union started out in 1951 at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne and at the time was called Warren Federal Credit Union. Chartered as a civilian credit union, it served the military and their families. Warren Federal grew over the years and in 2016 merged with Colorado-based Community Financial Credit Union. Together, they became Blue Federal to reflect the Air Force roots in Air Force Blue.
“It highlights a deeper connection to the sky that we share between our two states,” Elmore said. “We also believe in the outdoors like open skies, clean waters and that kind of thing. … We believe that the sky is the limit when it comes to being a member at Blue Federal.”
In 2020, Blue Federal acquired two branches known as Liberty Savings Bank and a year later moved into its World Headquarters Building at 2401 E. Pershing Blvd. in Cheyenne. Today, it has 22 branches, 13 in Colorado and eight in Wyoming with no plans to expand to other states. “It’s because that’s where our members have traditionally been, and we want to serve those communities well,” Elmore said. “We have found some incredible communities and towns to be a part of, and we don’t have plans to get big just for the sake of getting big.”
Blue Federal serves more than 1,000 employers along the Front Range and in southeastern Wyoming, providing them with the same services as a traditional bank from savings and checking accounts, credit cards and debit cards to mortgages, investment portfolios and car loans.
As a credit union, Blue Federal can also have a local focus and flavor at its branches.
“Each of our branches is location specific that speaks to the community that they’re in, meaning that a branch in Cheyenne is going to look a little bit different than a branch in Denver, but they’re going to feel the same,” Elmore said. “We are really striving for a warm, welcoming environment that makes everybody feel comfortable. It’s still a financial institution, and we take the stewardship of money and funds very, very seriously in our branch design and layout.”
Blue Federal joined the BBB over 20 years ago to give its members even more confidence in that stewardship since trust is foundational to a customer relationship.
“Trust is something that is inherent to some degree, because they’re trusting us with their money and finances. That’s an incredibly trusting process,” Elmore said. The BBB is the standard bearer to ethical businesses, and Blue Federal wants to promote itself as an organization that believes in the same things. Existing and potential new members can know that Blue Federal is in good standing and adheres to BBB’s standards that include a high level of trust, ethics in every interaction with its members, and a focus on community interaction.
“We support over 100 up to 150 organizations a year, doing everything from golf tournaments to galas,” Elmore said. “We really take pride in being where our communities are and supporting the things that are important to them. Sometimes that may look like a rodeo up in Granby, or it may look like a soiree in Boulder.”
Blue Federal’s “Blue It Forward” supports the community with time, talent and treasure through staff volunteers, in-kind and financial donations, and sponsorships.
“We are incredibly community-centric,” Elmore said. “We believe in being a lifelong champion that helps the communities that we’re a part of to thrive, no matter what that looks like. Whether the community members are saving for a car, sending kids to college, hiring, starting a new business, we are there for them.”
The BBB serves as a trusted platform that allows Blue Federal to strengthen existing relationships with its members and to expand its reach with the public that normally wouldn’t connect or be aware of the credit union’s presence. “It’s a third party that is unbiased in their rankings and trust of organizations, and it’s allowed us to stand on someone else’s merit,” Elmore said.
Blue Federal displays the BBB Accreditation Seal and Torch Awards Winner seal on its website and at some of its branches. “If you are operating in an ethical manner and want to show the world that you take it very seriously, the Torch Award would be the way to go to do that,” Elmore said. “The things that we do hold true that are verified by a third party like the BBB saying, ‘Yes, they actually are doing what they’re saying they’re doing.’ And they believe in this enough that they applied for something that they might not have gotten, but they got because they are committed to ethics and ethical standards.”