BAYTOWN, Texas – Since December 2002, when Community Resource Credit Union's name change was approved by the state, the credit union has been busy implementing a series of changes to establish a new identity for the institution. Changes include the introduction of shared branching, the public announcement of the name change and the rollout of a new logo, color scheme and sales environment. In February, the credit union joined the Texas Credit Union Service Center shared branching network to provide increased convenience and access for members around the world. In March, the credit union announced its name change to the public. Hal Thomas, credit union president, said, "It is important to understand that we have the same board of directors, officers, and staff. The name change was only to eliminate some confusion that exists in the community because of similar bank names, (Southwest Bank of Texas and SouthTrust Bank) and to convey the fact that all persons who live or work in the Goose Creek, Barbers Hill, and Crosby Independent School Districts can now join the credit union." The credit union, through its community charter, has the potential to serve most of the approximately 65,000 residents of Baytown and surrounding areas. Originally chartered as Humble Employees Federal Credit Union in 1935, the credit union today serves Exxon/Mobil employees worldwide and 125 select employee groups, or "affinity groups," that it began adding in 1994. Community Resource Credit Union has deposits totaling $125 million and a membership of more than 20,000. Along with the name change, the credit union unveiled its new logo and color scheme. The crux of the new mark is "The Baytown Wave," a symbol central to the credit union's brand identity. The mark suggests a group, or "community," moving together in a common direction, according to Venable. Bright colors were incorporated to project a "healthy and vital, perhaps even fun" image for Community Resource, in contrast with the "cold and lifeless" image of many financial institutions. The credit union chose "Your Better Choice" as a positioning statement, reflecting their commitment to providing better-than-generally-available services, rates and fees. Community Resource also remodeled its Baytown office to give it a retail environment. Among the features of the office is a new technology center located in the building's foyer enables members to receive demonstrations on home banking and to access their accounts via the Internet. But the branding is not yet complete. Venable says that while the new name and logo have been incorporated into the credit union's Web site, the Web site itself is currently undergoing a re-design to support the new image. -

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