"When the credit unions come to us, we start the talk with them and see what Founders can do to help them survive and we ask the question: Do you really need to merge?" Brumfield said. "As long as the economy stays the way it is, it will be hard for small credit unions to survive. With some small credit unions, there's nothing you can do. So we look to see if it makes sense for us to merge."

According to Brumfield, Founders started to examine ways to expand and gain membership 10 to 12 years ago because the credit union was too concentrated in the industry. They started then to try new business developments to gain members.

However, the high membership growth Brumfield attributes to a combination of two things: advertising and good employees. Brumfield said that Founders is constantly running different advertising pieces and newspaper ads, and its employees are very active in the community.

"The key to it all is having good employees out there in the field being an ambassador for your credit union," Brumfield said. "They're the face of the credit union, and if you serve your employees well that's the best kind of advertising."

In its two mergers in 2007, Founders was able to get all the employees from GT&R and Torrco to come over to work at Founders.

"We were fortunate to have the employees stay so that members can come in and still see familiar faces," Brumfield said.

With both mergers Founders sent out newsletters to the credit union's members, talking up the benefits of the merger. And when the members voted, Founders brought in food to encourage the members to come and vote.

"It's important that everyone has a say and knows what they're voting for," Brumfield said. "It's all about communication; you can't just do it one way you have to do it from all different sides."

While Founders as seen a steady growth over the years, the growth needs to be monitored, Brumfield said, and he is constantly stopping to examine certain key aspects of the credit union.

"When we see growth more than 9%, we stop to say why are we growing? Is it good growth? Is it controlled growth?" Brumfield said.

As membership at Founders has continued to grow, the credit union has also had to grow in other areas to better serve those members.

Founders expanded its card services to include MasterCard because it saw that many colleges did not accept Visa. Founders also saw that there was an aging segment in membership, and it needed to serve retirement needs and now offers its own investment services with its own financial planner. The credit union opened an insurance division through its CUSO, and as of July 1 will offer property and casualty insurance. Looking ahead, Founders is working to expand its ATMs to more advanced ATMs that can accept cash and checks.

"We're constantly looking to see what people want and need and what we need to do to expand our services," Brumfield said. "We want to see what our members need and how we can offer it cheaper and better than anyone else."

As part of its expansion Founders, opened its first branch in Gaffney, S. C., on June 15 and is working on a long-term project to develop a new corporate headquarters. The new headquarters will consolidate back office services, which are currently spread out among five different sites. Founders also has been setting up branches in local school districts.

"I was amazed by the numbers of moms and dads that sign their kids up," Brumfield said. "This is when I think we should be getting members in, at an early age, and hopefully they'll be members for life."

For 2008, Brumfield said that Founders will be looking at its financials to make sure it doesn't grow to fast and is looking at ways to better package its products and services.

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