David A. & Karrie McDougal

Each issue, Utah Valley Magazine features a member of UCCU. This time we hear from Provo business owner David A. McDougal and his wife, Karrie.
David and Karrie are partners in a number of businesses and involved in several community charities. They wanted to streamline their lives by bringing all their businesses under one roof — in the Vintage III office building.
Enter UCCU and a financing solution that opened the door to their building.

How did you decide which building would house your businesses?
The Vintage III building was perfect — it was in a great location but had sat unfinished for almost four years. We eventually built it to 50,000 square feet of space.

What unique challenges did you face in getting the building built?
We had three specific financing needs. We needed to acquire the property, finish construction and secure long-term financing. It was a relatively complicated situation because of the history of the property. In fact, we had one meeting early on in the project that had 21 lawyers either in the room, on the phone or being represented by someone else. It was crazy.

What is your history with UCCU?
We joined UCCU in 1975 while I was working as the director of development at BYU-Hawaii. Back then it was harder to join a credit union, so we took the chance while I was working for BYU-Hawaii to join UCCU.

Did that relationship lead you to UCCU for financing the building?
No, actually it was the market that led us to UCCU. I didn’t think the credit union financed projects this large and complicated. A friend in the mortgage industry was helping me look for financing, and we didn’t find great options that met all of our unique needs in a lot of the places we were looking. Then he called UCCU. When he asked if I would meet with UCCU, I was excited because I was already with the credit union.

How did UCCU take care of your needs?
I don’t know quite how we would have done it except how UCCU did it. They worked with us to find a solution for all three financing needs. They made decisions locally — which meant quicker answers — and they were responsive as we worked through difficult challenges. The rates were competitive, and a year after we moved in there was a significant change in rates. They worked with us then to adjust to those as well.

With today’s economic climate, what advice do you have for business owners who are considering big moves like you made?
This is America! We’re optimistic. We have concerns about the future, but we also have great hope. In fact, we are in the process of launching a new company to help other individuals and businesses obtain financing for their projects. We expect it to be fully operational before year’s end and housed, of course, in Vintage III.

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