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Northwest Community Credit Union (NWCU) in Eugene, Ore., said Tuesday its proposed merger with TwinStar Credit Union in Lacy, Wash., was approved by a vast majority of NCCU's membership.
Of the 7,000-plus members who cast a ballot, more than 70% voted in favor of the consolidation, NWCU said.
June 12 is the legal date when the organizations will officially combine with $4.1 billion in assets and 788 employees, who will operate 36 locations to serve more than 252,000 members across the two states. What's more, NWCU will become "Northwest Community Credit Union, a division of TwinStar Credit Union."
The consolidation also will make TwinStar the fifth largest financial cooperative by assets in Washington. Currently, it is ranked the 11th largest credit union in the Evergreen State, according to DepositAccounts.com.
From a member perspective, it will be business as usual as the organization ramps up efforts to fully integrate their systems in 2024, the credit unions said in a prepared statement.
"We are excited that our members see the additional benefits of forming this partnership and bringing our two credit unions together for the benefit of members, employees and communities," NWCU CEO John D. Iglesias, who will serve as president of the merged credit unions, said.
"Although our combined organization will be double in size, the true theme of this merger has been and will continue to be about being 'Better Together,'" he said. "Thank you to NWCU members and employees for their active participation in this voting process and for their commitment and loyalty to help ensure we continue to grow and thrive."
TwinStar CEO Jeff Kennedy said, "We are now eager to begin the process of pooling and combining our resources and our talent to provide further efficiencies and economies of scale to all those we serve."
Kennedy will become CEO of the combined cooperatives.
"The boards and leadership teams of both credit unions have worked side by side over the past several months to ensure the original intent of this partnership remained, and that intent was to work collaboratively to make decisions for the future organization and stay focused on our passion for serving members," he said. "We know members have many choices when it comes to a financial institution, and we take that very seriously. We've been lucky to form this great partnership and are excited about the future. The end goal is to build a greater experience for employees and members, and then everyone wins."
The credit unions said they are working together to determine a unified name that is expected to be announced at a later date.
TwinStar is the second Washington credit union to merge with an out-of-state credit union in nearly a year. Last June, members of the $624 million Global Credit Union in Spokane, Wash., approved consolidating with the $11.7 billion Alaska USA Federal Credit Union in Anchorage, Alaska, which changed its name to Global Credit Union in January.
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Peter Strozniak
Credit Union Times reporter covering credit union operations, fraud, M&As, leagues, business continuity, and breaking news.
