Marquee Welcomes Visitors, Promotes CU

Innovative Signage Showcases CU—and CEO’s Vision

(Article appeared on CCUL, December 14, 2007)

Arrowhead Credit Union’s full-color LED marquee in front of Arrowhead Credit Union Park is viewed by more than 346,000 people every day.

If you’ve driven down Highway 215 in San Bernardino over the last several months, you may have noticed something new—a gleaming marquee with full-color LED display bearing the Arrowhead Credit Union name.

The marquee was unveiled earlier this year following five years of development. And it all started with one idea from a true credit union visionary—Arrowhead CU President and CEO Larry Sharp—who recently celebrated 25 years with the credit union.

On a trip to the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City with now League President and CEO Bill Cheney and good friend Dave Oldham, Sharp saw a similar sign in front of the E Center, a sports complex owned by Elmore Sports Group. Elmore also owns Arrowhead Credit Union Park, a minor league baseball stadium where Arrowhead CU has had naming rights since 2002.

“Larry thought it would be a great idea to work on duplicating the highway marquee for downtown San Bernardino,” says Oldham, now president of Arrowhead CU’s highway marquee division. “When we got back from the Olympics, we got right to work on earning the support of the mayor and the city council.”

It took changes in city rules and regulations concerning outdoor electronic signs, and permission from the state and Caltrans to get it built in an economic development area, but the rare sign came to fruition on March 6 just outside of Arrowhead Credit Union Park.

The marquee utilizes the latest technology to showcase messages, and offers all the advantages of a static billboard with the frequency of radio commercials. In addition to marketing the credit union and Arrowhead Financial Group products and services, Arrowhead CU also utilizes the sign as part of its community outreach strategies by promoting city programs, local non-profit organizations, and community events. The sign provides a revenue stream for the credit union, and the city benefits with revenue sharing from the marquee as well.

“For Mr. Sharp to have the vision to let us undertake such a futuristic project is just par for the course,” says Oldham. “He was the first person to sign on the dotted line for the naming rights partnership with the city of San Bernardino. And he was on the cutting edge of marrying his stadium with a great digital marquee that helps promote everything we do at this stadium, everything we do at the credit union, and everything our business partners do.”

Fast Facts

• More than 165,000 cars pass this location daily
• The average number of passengers per vehicle is 2.1
• More than 346,000 people see the sign daily
• The sign is capable of more than 15 million four-second commercials per year