After successfully starting up and growing a reputable meat packing business, W. B. and John H. Bryan became aware of the devastating financial consequences loan sharks and finance companies were having on their employees. They challenged their staff to find a way to eliminate these parasites and put hard-earned wages back in the hands of the men and women who earned them. The unanimous recommendation of the staff was to form a credit union, a financial cooperative owned and controlled by its users.
In 1960, PB Thrift Plan was chartered by the State of Mississippi to serve the employees of Bryan Brothers Packing Company. Operating out of what had been a small storage room in the canned meat warehouse and only large enough for a desk and chair, PB Thrift accepted deposits and made small loans. In 1975, PB Thrift Plan became Bryan Packing Employee Credit Union to better reflect the employee group it served. The name was changed again in 1989 to Bryan Employee Credit Union as a result of Bryan dropping the word Packing from its name. Until 1991 the offices were located on the Bryan property with access limited to Bryan employees and retirees.
During 1989 and 1990 the Board of Directors investigated the advantages of moving the credit union off the Bryan Foods premises in order to expand the membership to other selected associations and employee groups in the West Point/Clay County area. This move would reduce the risk associated with serving a single employer group while also allowing membership to the families of credit union eligible employees.
In 1991, the credit union moved its operation to 211 High Street and became fully computerized. Assets increased over the next few years from $2.5 million to $5.5 million as the credit union added new groups and family members. Risk-based lending was adopted during this period to reward the member who exhibited financial responsibility in his affairs with more favorable interest rates and terms on loans.
At the beginning of 2006 the credit union changed its name again, becoming New Horizons Credit Union. This new name was chosen to emphasize the innovative opportunities developing in the world of finance and to accentuate the credit union’s challenge to provide them to its membership at an affordable cost. In 2008 New Horizons opened branches in Eupora and Houston providing credit union services to members in eight counties: Calhoun, Clay, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Lowndes, Monroe, Oktibbeha, and Webster.
In 2016 New Horizons took another step to improve service to its members by moving into a much larger building located on Highway 45 Alternate, the main thoroughfare through West Point. This building was designed to operate as a financial business and includes a drive-up window and private counseling rooms. Later in 2016 New Horizons converted to a Federal charter becoming The New Horizons Federal Credit Union.
Today there are 118 employee groups and associations whose members, along with their immediate family members, are eligible for membership in the credit union.