According to Callahan & Associates, Inc., the industry now has 88 credit unions with more than $1 billion in assets for a collective total of $194 billion and 18 million members. These credit unions also have the distinction of having the highest average ROA (among the 9 peer groups) at 1.10%, wrote Niral Patel, Callahan senior IT coordinator. "The path to success for these credit unions came through a variety of different approaches. Each of these credit unions had significant growth in their loan portfolio where some grew their auto and others their real estate loans," Patel wrote, while others grew their deposit accounts by bringing money into their money markets and certificates. The six credit unions are First Community CU in Ellisville, Mo.; Georgia Telco in Atlanta; Langley FCU in Hampton, Va.; Lake Michigan CU in Grand Rapids, Mich.; Redwood CU in Santa Rosa, Calif.; and Walnut Creek, Calif.-based Pacific Service Credit Union. First Community Credit Union, Ellisville, Mo. Assets: $1,013,228,191 Assets Growth: 3.41% Loan Growth: 3.71% Members: 127,931 Return on Assets: 0.53% Branches: 22 Georgia Telco CU, Atlanta Assets: $1,010,828,159 Assets Growth: 3.82% Loan Growth: 7.83% Members: 92,981 Return on Assets: 0.56% Branches: 19 Lake Michigan CU, Grand Rapids, Mich. Assets: $1,028,472,779 Assets Growth: 36.93% Loan Growth: 33.04% Members: 99,478 Return on Assets: 2.22% Branches: 17 Langley FCU, Hampton, Va. Assets: $1,026,009,583 Assets Growth: 14.82% Loan Growth: 8.61% Members: 131,675 Return on Assets: 1.55% Branches: 12 Redwood CU, Santa Rosa, Calif. Assets: $1,020,752,298 Assets Growth: 10.58% Loan Growth: 23.49% Members: 106,920 Return on Assets: 1.34% Branches: 10 Source: Callahan & Associates, Inc. Editor's Note: Latest Pacific CU data unavailable at press time.