DENVER – CU Direct Connect (also known as CUILA) has reached a milestone: the credit unions in the indirect lending program exceeded the $1 billion mark in loan volume on Oct. 29. What makes this achievement all the more special for the CUSO, said CUILA President/CEO Steve Anderson, is that it hit this milestone in just 10 months. "Only a program that endorses the credit unions' cooperative effort and minimizes competition between the credit unions could reach this level of success," he said. Fifty-nine credit unions, representing almost one million members, participate in CUILA and all but one of them are located in Colorado. The last CU is located in Wyoming. More than 430 of Colorado dealerships participate in the program. To celebrate the achievement, CU Direct Connect provided a $5,000 check to Lakewood Happy Motors who submitted the loan that pushed the indirect program over the $1 billion mark. It also paid for the first three payments of the Bellco CU member's loan.