At the close of 2011's second quarter, a handful of credit unions located in the sand states, where a teetering economy has made it most difficult for financial institutions to thrive, shared hopeful bits of news: net worth ratio improvements, net income increases, loan loss reductions and operating expense cutbacks.

But there's still a long road to recovery ahead for CUs in the sand states of California, Nevada, Arizona and Florida, say several credit union CEOs based in those regions. And another state, Utah, has become the newest member of the sand state club. In February 2010, Utah League of Credit Unions President/CEO Scott Simpson declared Utah a sand state, stating it had caught up with the bankruptcies and foreclosures the original four states had suffered.

Callahan & Associates' current state-by-state return on assets data shows several of the sand states lagging behind the rest of the nation. Of all 50 states plus Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia, Nevada ranks rock bottom with a return on assets of negative 0.33%. Florida ranks 38th with 0.59%, Utah comes in at 35th with 0.60%, California ranks 19th with 0.79%, and Arizona is 14th on the list with 0.85%.