More than fast cash: Kamiah-based credit union installing ATM ‘outpost’ in Uniontown

UNIONTOWN — Freedom Northwest Credit Union is constructing an automated teller machine on a prominent lot at the south entrance to Uniontown, just off U.S. Highway 95.

The site will have Wi-Fi, a charging station, air for tires, water bottle filling station, bench, bicycle rack and American flag, the same amenities at the credit union’s other upscale automated teller machine sites, called “outposts,” CEO Scott Garrett said.

The financial institution hopes to have it completed by the end of May.

Credit union members can deposit checks or cash and withdraw money, specifying the denominations they want for their cash, Garrett said.

“It’s a remote way to interact with the credit union,” he said. “It really starts to replace what a teller can provide.”

The financial institution also is constructing storage units for members to rent on the site and preserving a white barn for a purpose that will be determined at a later date, Garrett said.

The other Freedom Northwest teller machines are in the Lewiston Orchards along Thain Road, which also has storage units; Clarkston, along Bridge Street; Grangeville; Colfax; and Waitsburg. Another one will debut soon on East Main Street in Lewiston on the way to Clearwater Paper and Idaho Forest Group.

Storage units are part of the approach in some cases because they give the credit union a way to use extra space when the only properties in the locations the credit union wants are larger than needed for the outposts, Garrett said.

Freedom Northwest Credit Union began growing more rapidly in 2016 when it changed its name from Kamiah Community Credit Union and loosened membership requirements.

Anyone can belong as long as they are related to a credit union member or become a member of the Kamiah Chamber of Commerce with a one-time $20 donation collected by the credit union. Before that, members had to live or work in Lewis or Idaho counties.

It now has 10,000 members and $290 million in assets, according to its website.

Its branches are in Kamiah and Kooskia, and its loan offices are in Lewiston and Hayden.