Legacy Matters: The History of Voyage

At Voyage Federal Credit Union, legacy matters. For those who don’t know, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, became a city in March of 1889 on the banks of the Big Sioux River. That’s more than 150 years of history, of building and growing, learning from our mistakes and celebrating our successes. Truly, we are a strong city, founded on the principles of liberty and equality, and we are growing in prosperity each year. History matters to our people, and it matters to us at Voyage Federal Credit Union. Our own history dates back to 1939, as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was encouraging people to put their faith in the banks again. The end of The Great Depression saw the beginning of Voyage.

History Creates Legacy

For more than 70 years now, Voyage, in all of its incarnations, has worked hard to earn that faith, and to keep it strong – to build a legacy. We began as two small credit unions: Sioux Falls Bell Federal Credit Union formed by the people of Northwestern Bell Telephone Company, and Midwest Partners Federal Credit Union formed by the Metz Baking Company, back in 1939 and 1940, respectively. Decades later, a merger joined Midwest Partners to the McKennan Hospital Employee Federal Credit unions to form Metz/McKennan Federal Credit Union in 1987. In 2001, Metz/McKennan changed its name back to Midwest Partners Federal Credit Union in order to better reflect its key sponsors. Then, in 2009, Sioux Falls Bell shortens its name and broaden its membership opportunities to Minnehaha and Lincoln Counties as Bell Federal Credit Union. 

United We Stand

Finally in 2011, thanks to the approval by the National Credit Union Administration and a membership vote by the people of Midwest Partners Federal Credit Union, the two credit unions merged to form Voyage Federal Credit Union. We chose our name for two reasons: first, we wanted to reflect our history, our long journey through showing up for the citizens of Sioux Falls for almost one hundred years, as well as where we plan to go, far into the future of banking in this community. Secondly, we sit with members every single day, people from all different walks of life, all ages and backgrounds. And we know without a doubt that each of our members is on his or her own financial journey. We wanted our name to reflect our support and encouragement for their journey, their voyage. 

This decades-long journey is our legacy, and it has sustained us and our members through even the most trying of times. Out of the Great Depression, through a world war, and into a new millennium, Voyage prides itself on being visionary, hard-working, and prosperous. It is a legacy we share with our founders, our members, and our community at large.