Fiscal fitness.

• Position: SMALL BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT

PRESENTED by MOUNTAIN AMERICA CREDIT UNION

BACKGROUND

During the 1950s, when Vernal, Utah, residents needed something, they visited Searle Electric. The owner, Carl Searle, offered more than electrical goods. The store carried everything from paint to bicycles, appliances to chainsaws and sporting goods to hardware. At one point, it even offered sheep shearing equipment.

Over time, Searle decided he needed to share the massive responsibilities associated with operating a general store and sold a portion of his business to his friend, Garth Batty. Together they built a successful enterprise.

When Batty's son, DeArmon, graduated from Brigham Young University in 1973, he decided to join the family business. One of his more significant contributions was a suggestion that Searle Electric stop trying to be everything to everybody. The owners took this suggestion to heart, and the company began to focus on its core services by shearing off the sheep equipment, painting out the hardware and cutting out the chainsaws.

With this change, Searle Electric began its transition to becoming Basin Sports.

THE SITUATION

DeArmon Batty and his wife, Jacqueline, eventually became the sole owners of Basin Sports, buying both Searle's and Garth Batty's shares of the company.

"Even after all of these changes, we've remained successful," states Batty. "In the industry, we're known as a full-line sporting goods store. We now have various departments for fishing, hunting and camping. We even have an exercise department with various products, including clothing and equipment."

When Batty first took an ownership role in the business, he wasn't banking with Mountain America Credit Union. "My previous bank was charging me high rates for their services," recalls Batty. "The charges seemed odd; I don't know...