About Us

1940: In June 1948, a handful of Phillips employees met in Seminole, TX with the Treasurer of Phillips Oklahoma City District Federal Credit Union. That evening each attendee paid $5.25 and became members of Oklahoma City District Federal Credit Union. During the remaining part of 1948 these Phillips employees continued to meet and pursue a federal credit union charter. One year later in May 1949, Odessa 66 Federal Credit Union (FCU) was founded. Odessa 66 was established to serve the financial and transactional needs of the Permian Basin employees of Phillips Petroleum Company. The Credit Union was run out of the Credit Union's treasurer A.W. Brumbelow briefcase. By 1949 the Credit Union's assets totaled $22,000.

1950: In 1950 the Credit Union offices were moved to Ed Rowland's garage at 2519 N. Adams St in Odessa. With continued growth, in 1955 the Credit Union offices were moved to an office desk (no office, but a desk in an office) in the newly constructed Phillips Building on 4th Street. Credit Union assets at the time totaled $300,000. Later in the 1950's, the credit union charter was amended to include employees of the Phillips gasoline company, which lead to an increase in membership at Odessa 66 FCU.

1960: The Credit Union switched from a federal to state charter. At the same time, the Credit Union's name was changed from Odessa 66 FCU to Odessa 66 CU. In this process the field of membership was again expanded and now included any employee of Phillips Petroleum Company including Phillips employees in southeastern New Mexico. In 1964, assets reached 1 million. The decade would end with assets reaching 2 million.

1970: In 1978, the Credit Union purchased property to build a stand-alone branch at 4015 Penbrook. The branch was located next to the Phillips building, allowing convenient access for members. The Credit Union ended the decade with over 9 million in assets.

1980: In 1981, after 30 years of service, Ed Rowland retired. Mr. Rowland was considered the father of Odessa 66 Credit Union. Jo Ann Crain took over the reins for the next 15 years. Under her leadership, many advances were made; such as the credit union purchasing its own phone system and beginning to offer ATM cards. The decade ended with assets over 22 million and membership of almost 4,000.

1990: In 1997 the Credit Union's charter switched from an employee based to a community based membership. Now anyone that lived, worked or worshiped in Ector or Midland County was eligible to be a member of the Credit Union. To reflect the change in membership; the Credit Union's name changed from Odessa 66 Credit Union to Southwest 66 Credit Union. In 1998 due to continued growth, the Credit Union constructed a new and larger building at 4041 52nd Street. That building remains Southwest 66 Credit Union’s main branch. Total assets were now over 40 million.

2000: With continued growth in both Odessa and the Credit Union, in 2002 the Credit Union opened its first branch location on the west side of Odessa at 1315 W. University. By the end of the decade, the Credit Union assets had surpassed 70 million.

2010: The Credit Union continued to add new services such as a mobile app and shared branching. During this decade the Credit Union won numerous awards. The most prestigious of these, CUNA's Credit Union of the Year award. Not only did Southwest 66 Credit Union win the award but did so in back to back years - 2014 and 2015. Another important award the Credit Union earned was the Juntos Avanzamos designation from the Cornerstone League for serving the Hispanic community.

In 2015 both locations were completely remodeled and switched from a traditional teller line format to an open pod format. This included adding internet cafes at each location. In 2018 the Credit Union opened our 2nd branch at 4425 W Wadley in Midland. Southwest 66 Credit Union continued to grow with over 85 million in assets and over 10,000 members.

2020: Southwest 66 is proud of our rich history in helping members of the Odessa, Midland and West Texas community with their financial service needs. We look forward to serving even more members in our ever growing community. We invite you to come in (whether in person or online) and have a cup of coffee at our internet cafe and experience the difference that a member owned and member driven credit union makes. SEE YOU SOON !!!