For more than 75 years, True Sky Credit Union has served the Oklahoma City metro area with all the products and services you would expect from a full-service financial institution. As a not-for-profit, member-owned financial institution, True Sky has a focus on empowering the communities where their members live and work.
“We originally were associated with the Federal Aviation Administration, and our credit union opened primarily to serve members of the airline industry,” explains Diana Rawdon, True Sky’s vice president of commercial lending. “So, in line with our history, many of our credit union’s slogans and themes are tied to the airline industry. Once we opened to everyone in the Oklahoma City metro area, we have stayed true to our roots, while still opening up to a wider audience.”
Historically, restrictions on commercial lending limited the impact that credit unions could make in the business communities where they operated. As those restrictions changed, True Sky has focused on supporting entrepreneurs and providing resources to help grow small businesses.
“We love the rapidly growing business community in Moore, Norman and south Oklahoma City,” Diana continues. “We decided to give part of our operations center building back to our members and create a space unlike any other in the area. Our idea for Hangar 46 was born.”
In 2021, the credit union opened Hangar 46, a shared workspace designed to serve as an incubator for new small businesses. Located at 9301 South Western, Hangar 46 serves as an anchor in a rapidly growing business community.
“It is called Hangar 46 because our credit union opened in 1946,” Diana adds. “Our whole goal is to help launch new businesses. We didn’t want small business owners to feel like they had to go to downtown Oklahoma City to gain access to a shared workspace. We wanted to offer something to support small businesses right in the heart of Cleveland County.”
The space reflects True Sky’s airline motif, with aeronautical themes and conference room names such as “alpha” and “delta,” that pull directly from the airline industry.
Hangar 46 is designed to be a very professional, modern workspace that provides access to the latest technology, collaboration space, individual workstations, conference rooms, a coffee bar and many more amenities. The vision is that the workspace will serve as a bridge to help small business owners transition into their own permanent space.
“We want Hangar 46 to be a space that gives small businesses a more confident, professional appearance. If they need to meet with new clients, they aren’t limited to meeting in a noisy coffee shop or in their personal residence,” Diana explains. “They can hold meetings in person or utilize the latest web-based conferencing technology. The space is designed with them in mind.”
Diana explains that Hangar 46 is available to all True Sky Credit Union members. It is designed to be a coworking space, and not designed to be a financial burden to its members.
“The charge to join is only to cover overhead expenses, and it is about one-third of the cost of many coworking spaces,” she says. “We work to make it affordable, both for small business owners and even people who work remotely that sometimes need an office space.”
In addition to a professional workspace, True Sky provides access to executive-level personnel to all their Hangar 46 members. Top-level executives in the credit union are available to share their expertise, answer questions and provide guidance to small business owners.
“Members of the Hangar can schedule meetings with our senior leaders to discuss issues, ask questions and gain access to information that they wouldn’t otherwise have,” Diana says. “If they are struggling with anything from how to set up or structure their business, or how to provide benefits, or the best ways to keep their data secure, our leaders can help them find answers. It is so valuable for burgeoning small business owners to have access to upper-level executives to help them learn to structure and nurture their business.”
True Sky has partnered with the Oklahoma Small Business Development Center to bring even more resources to Hangar 46 members. The SBDC assists small-business owners across the state of Oklahoma by providing no charge, one-on-one business management advising, strategic planning, marketing advice, sales strategies and more.
The SBDC is available to guide Hangar 46 members through the startup process, prepare existing businesses for growth and assist in the development of financial projections, as well as explore small-business financing programs.
“Our partnership with the SBDC really helps entrepreneurs take their startups to the next level. The partnership is all about helping small businesses take an idea from infancy to development,” Diana adds.
“The SBDC service offerings are vast and our training program is constantly evolving to serve the needs of Oklahoma small businesses. We look forward to future collaborations with the True Sky Credit Union to assist entrepreneurs seeking assistance,” said Oklahoma SBDC State Director Michele Hockersmith.
“Small-business owners are great at whatever they do. However, they may not have a business background, and managing employees may not be something you learn in school,” Diana explains.
To date, Diana says that the small businesses that are utilizing Hangar 46 have found it to be invaluable, and the space has allowed them to learn many of the crucial basics of small business ownership.
It has also provided opportunities for members to collaborate with other members who have similar businesses or work in similar industries. True Sky hopes to integrate programs like Hangar 46 into other branch locations in the future.
“We are growing and expanding into new markets and looking at opportunities to reallocate space to offer it back to our membership,” Diana concludes. “Many bigger cities have these types of resources, and we are so happy to bring this to the south Oklahoma City area.”
For more information about Hangar 46 or to learn how to join True Sky Credit Union, please visit TrueSkyCU.org. For more information about the SBDC, please visit oksbdc.org.