BUSINESS
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015
A4 HERMISTONHERALD.COM
Send submissions or story ideas for the Herald Business page to Editor Jessica Keller, jkeller@hermistonherald.com
Your credit
score: Updates
you should know
C
redit scoring has
evolved over
the last three
decades and this fall,
FICO made one more
important change.
Borrowers who have
struggled with medical
debt and those with a
limited credit history
might see better
FICO numbers in the
future. Even if these
situations don’t apply
to you, understanding
how credit scoring is
changing can help you
better manage your
credit over time.
FICO Score 9,
rolled out last fall, is
described as a more
“nuanced” version
of the original FICO
Score that the leading
credit scoring company
introduced in 1989.
It is offered by three
major credit bureaus
— Equifax (www.
equifax.com), Experian
(http://www.experian.
com) and TransUnion.
(http://www.transunion.
com). It now bypasses
collection agency
accounts and weighs
medical debt differently
than non-medical debt
on a person’s credit
record. Borrowers with
a median score of 711
whose only negative
credit data comes from
medical collections will
see their credit score go
up 25 points under the
new system.
As for consumers
with limited credit
histories — what the
industry calls “thin
files” — FICO says
the new system will
better determine the
ability of someone in
that situation to repay a
debt.
What doesn’t FICO
9 address? At this
point, the latest credit-
scoring model really
doesn’t loosen or
change requirements
for mortgage
and refinancing
opportunities. Even so,
there are many things
ordinary borrowers can
do to improve their
credit scores and overall
financial health over
time.
The first step is for
borrowers to review
each of their credit
reports once a year.
Credit reports and credit
scores are two different
things. Consider
credit scores are a
three-digit summary
of creditworthiness;
credit reports are the
detailed record of
a borrower’s credit
history. Consumers
can view each of their
credit reports from
Equifax, Experian and
TransUnion once a
year for free (www.
annualcreditreport.
com). Stagger receipt
of each agency’s credit
reports throughout
the year to weed out
any inconsistencies,
inaccuracies or,
worse, indications
of fraudulent credit
applications or identity
theft.
Borrowers are seeing
something else that’s
new — some lenders
are making the credit
scores they apply to
existing borrowers
-$621$/'(50$1
MONEY MATTERS
Visa columnist
available for free.
A few major lenders
have taken part in the
industry-only FICO
Score Open Access
Program, which lets
current customers see
the exact credit scoring
data applied to them at
no charge. FICO’s site
doesn’t offer the names
of participating lenders,
but a customer should
ask their lender if they
are offering free scores
through that program.
Consumers should
know how credit
scores are compiled.
FICO uses five key
ingredients:
• Payment history (35
percent)
• Amounts owed (30
percent)
• Length of credit
history (15 percent)
• New credit (10
percent)
• Types of credit used
(10 percent)
Visit www.myfico.
com for a list of tips for
borrowers to improve
their scores. Base
FICO scores have a
300 to 850 score range,
and though FICO
doesn’t release what
it considers good or
bad scores, borrowers
with excellent credit
typically have scores in
the mid-700s and up.
FICO uses five key
ingredients:
• Payment history
(35 percent)
• Amounts owed
(30 percent)
• Length of credit
history (15
percent)
• New credit (10
percent)
•Types of credit
used (10 percent)
There are ways to
preserve and raise
existing credit scores.
It might be wise for
borrowers to ask if they
can increase the credit
limit on individual
accounts while paying
down existing balances
on those accounts. Smart
borrowers generally
keep their outstanding
balances at 30 percent
or less of their available
credit limit.
Bottom line: Smart
credit management starts
with an understanding of
one’s credit reports and
credit scores.
— Jason Alderman
directs Visa’s financial
education programs. To
Follow Jason Alderman
on Twitter: www.twitter.
com/PracticalMoney
HermistonHerald
VOLUME 109 ɿ NUMBER 26
JESSICA KELLER
EDITOR
jkeller@
hermistonherald.com
541-564-4533
SEAN HART PHOTO
Northwest Farm Supply employees Melissa Jemmett, left, and Penney Crowther, ring up items for customers Saturday during
the business’s 20th anniversary celebration.
Customers support specialized farm supply store
Hermiston business
celebrates 20th
anniversary
Northwest
Farm Supply
The business is open from
7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays
through Fridays and from 8
a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays at
80411 Highway 395, north of
Hermiston.
BY SEAN HART
HERMISTON HERALD
Northwest Farm Supply
was packed for its 20th an-
niversary celebration Fri-
day and Saturday.
Nathan Crowther, man-
ager and part owner of the
business, said the commu-
nity has been supportive
since it opened in March
of 1995 on Highway 395
north of Hermiston.
“The support of the
community was phenom-
enal last weekend and
has continued to escalate
since we’ve been there,”
he said. “The Hermiston
community has been ex-
tremely supportive of our
type of a business and has
allowed us to grow and
prosper.”
Crowther
said
the
business has also tried to
support the community
through the years.
He said the business
has been committed to
supporting 4-H and FFA
“from day one.” He said
NW Farm Supply has
spent more than $800,000
purchasing livestock at
fairs and shows and also
hosts its own shows.
“We’ve spent a lot of
money to support the live-
stock auctions, the kids
that are involved and the
leaders,” Crowther said.
“We do things like put
on our own jackpot steer
show that gives them an
opportunity to prepare for
the fairs they’ll be show-
ing at.”
Crowther, who has
lived in the area for more
than 30 years, said he
worked in agricultural re-
tail for more than 10 years
before opening NW Farm
Supply. He said the busi-
ness specializes in certain
areas to set it apart from
others.
“We have attempted to
differentiate from other
businesses,
particularly
farm-supply businesses,
with several key areas,”
he said. “One of them is
having a full-time live-
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with ranchers. His name is
Mike Countryman, and he
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in Oregon and about four
in Washington. His train-
ing is as an animal scien-
tist.”
Crowther said NW
Farm Supply also focus-
es on pumps, tanks, hose,
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SEAN HART PHOTO
Northwest Farm Supply has been open for more than 20 years
on Highway 395 north of Hermiston. Many people attended an
anniversary celebration Friday and Saturday and participated
in drawings and contests.
lated to sprayers,” and his
son Justin and business
partner John Lloyd spe-
cialize in that area.
“It’s a fairly technical
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the right recommenda-
tions and understanding
application, and there re-
ally hasn’t been anybody
else in our market that has
had the experience level
that those guys have to be
able to help farmers,” he
said.
Since the business be-
gan, NW Farm Supply
has also expanded and
branched out. In 2003,
Crowther said he and his
partners opened a store in
Walla Walla, and, in 2004,
they started manufactur-
ing Premier Northwest
trailers. Crowther said
more than 2,000 trailers
have been built in Herm-
iston.
Crowther said they
added another business,
Nutritional Services, that
manufactures
livestock
feed supplements from a
facility on Elm Avenue
in Hermiston. He said
the products, including
Northwest Horse Supple-
ment and Northwest Mare
and Foal, are distributed
throughout the Northwest
and parts of California.
“As
opportunities
come up, we take a look
at them,” he said. “We’ve
been very fortunate to
have a crew of employ-
ees who look for oppor-
tunities. We’ve been very
fortunate to have a stable
crew of people that have
been there for a long
time. In total, between
all of the locations, part
time and full time, we
have about 30 employees
currently.”
SEAN HART PHOTO
Employee Ani Jemmett, left, supervises people entering drawings for various items during Northwest Farm Supply’s 20th anni-
versary celebration Saturday at the business north of Hermiston on Highway 395.
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• VWRSE\RXURI¿FHVDW(0DLQ6W
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hermistonherald.com
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