Employer Partners

Friona Industries, L. P. began as single small cattle feedyard in Amarillo, TX, in 1962 as the beef industry began to recognize the resources that existed in the Texas panhandle. Founding partners, like A.L. Black, were a group of cattle feeders who could see beyond the cattle to all the other businesses that cattle feeding supported: meat processing, feed manufacturing, and trucking, to name just a few.

We have progressed to become one of the leading cattle feeding businesses in the world, led by visionaries such as Mr. Black and James Herring, both winners of the National Golden Spur Award, which honors outstanding achievement in ranching and livestock businesses. Today, privately held Friona Industries has eight state-of-the-art feedyards in north Texas and southwest Kansas, with a feeding capacity that ranks us as the second largest cattle feeder in the United States.

Since 1975, Pantex has been the nation’s primary assembly, disassembly, retrofit, and life-extension center for nuclear weapons. The last new nuclear weapon was completed in 1991. Since then, Pantex has safely dismantled thousands of weapons retired from the stockpile by the military and placed the resulting plutonium pits in interim storage.

All work at Pantex is carried out under three overarching priorities: the safety and health of workers and the public, the security of weapons and information, and the protection of the environment.

Beef Northwest began with the Wilson family’s ranching roots in Eastern Oregon in the 1870s. Recognizing a need for cattle finishing options in the Pacific Northwest, John and Jim Wilson established the company’s first feedyard in Nyssa, Oregon. Since then, Beef Northwest has grown through vertical integration and strong partnerships into one of the nation’s largest feeding and backgrounding operations, with five major feedyards, three growyards, and extensive grazing operations across the Northwest.

While cattle are at the center of the business, Beef Northwest considers its people to be its greatest strength. The company emphasizes teamwork, animal care, food safety, innovation, and high standards of animal welfare. It also embraces changing consumer preferences and focuses on developing new domestic and international markets, producing beef for a variety of consumer-focused programs, including Country Natural Beef and Certified Angus Beef.

Education Credit Union (ECU) believes everyone deserves a stronger and more sustainable financial future. The organization helps members navigate every stage of life by working together as a community with a shared goal: helping members move forward financially. By understanding each member’s unique needs, challenges, and opportunities, ECU helps them accomplish their goals. The credit union invests in digital tools and provides the accounts members need, along with the service they expect from financial experts. Providing great, local banking isn’t just something ECU does—it’s at the heart of who they are.

From humble beginnings as a teacher-focused cooperative to becoming a cornerstone of community and financial support, Education Credit Union is proud to be part of Texas Panhandle history. ECU continues to build on that legacy through innovation, growth, and service to its members and the community.