Northwest Federal Plants More Local Roots

Northwest Federal Credit Union branch manager Samia (Sam) Salmon (left) and CEO Jeff Bentley at the ribbon-cutting for the May, 2019 opening.

CEO Jeff Bentley

By Leslie VanSant

Since 1947, Northwest Federal Credit Union has been providing financial services to its members. And, for just over a year, they’ve been doing so at their branch located at the corner of Washington and Pendleton Streets in Middleburg.

Jeff Bentley, its president and chief executive officer, and Samia (Sam) Salmon, Middleburg’s branch manager, recently spoke with Country ZEST about the Herndon, Virginia-based company and why it added a location in the village. CEO Jeff Bentley

Bentley is a familiar face around town. His wife, Susan, once worked at Foxcroft School and the couple often explored the area. He spoke fondly of that time, and their experiences while living on the Foxcroft campus.

“We lived in a dorm room when we first arrived,” Bentley said. “Our weekends were spent exploring country roads and having dinner in town. We really fell in love with it.”

When he was selected to head the company in 2017, he and Susan left the country life behind and moved to Falls Church. Still, it was only a matter of time before they connected back to Middleburg when Northwest Federal opened its local branch in May, 2019.

Northwest Federal is a full-service financial institution ranking among the largest credit unions in Virginia. Established in 1947, it currently serves more than 220,000 members and has assets in excess of $3.2 billion.

A credit union is a non-profit financial institution. Members are connected to each other by some factor—the military, the government, faith, for example. Credit unions are well-known for a variety of services, and when you open an account or take out a loan, you actually become a member and shareholder.

“Seeing someone get the keys to their first home because of our mortgage financing, or someone that’s talking to one of our financial advisors to put together a plan to reach their retirement goals, is incredibly gratifying,” Bentley said. “And that happens every day here.”

Community is everything to a credit union. So when the opportunity in Loudoun County presented itself, Bentley acted quickly.

“It was a chance to expand our footprint further into Loudoun Northwest Federal Credit Union branch manager Samia (Sam) Salmon (left) and CEO Jeff Bentley at the ribbon-cutting for the May, 2019 opening. County to better serve our members in the area and it gave us a chance to welcome those who might have been with that big bank that pulled out of the town,” he said. “We are extremely happy to be part of such a historic, close-knit community.”

Branch manager Salmon had previous banking experience in town.

“It’s been a pleasure seeing so many friends, residents and business owners as they stop in to say hello,” the Leesburg resident said. “Everyone takes such pride in being part of this community.”

Even during the current pandemic, their focus remains on its members. Precautions to care for the safety of staff and customers were taken into consideration, as well as steps to ensure their financial health.

“As an existing SBA (Small Business Administration) approved lender, we were poised to immediately help small businesses in the area,” Bentley said. “The influx of applications was so large, we quickly added staff and even worked around the clock to submit applications.”

To date, Northwest Federal has secured $59 million in SBA funding and has another $58 million pending, all of which is targeted to local small businesses needing help during this extraordinary time.

Northwest Federal Credit Union is located at 101 W. Washington St. in Middleburg. For more information, visit www.nwfcu.org.