CU Members in 3 States Approve the New Year’s First Mergers

The New Year’s first mergers have been approved by their members in Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Colorado.

On Jan. 4, members of the $59.4 million Parkview Community Federal Credit Union in McKeesport, Pa., approved its consolidation with the $1.8 billion Clearview Federal Credit Union in Moon Township, Pa., PCFCU President/CEO Gina M. Tatkus said.

“A crucial reason for our merger is due to a forced core data processing conversion and lack of employees to manage the process,” PCFCU said in its merger documents. “It has become increasingly difficult to offer the products and services our membership needs and has come to expect due to the current state of the industry and not being able to replace retiring or departing employees. Partnering with a large, successful organization like Clearview will increase resources to deliver more value to PCFCU members along with the same personalized service we have always provided.”

Clearview’s 380 employees manage 20 locations and serve nearly 120,000 members.

Although PCFCU’s 14 employees will continue to work at Clearview, Tatkus has decided not to continue her employment. According to her executive employment agreement, Tatkus is entitled to a severance payment of $366,658, PCFCU’s merger documents showed.

After the merger is finalized on July 1, PCFCU’s two branches will remain open.

Chartered in 1935, PCFCU served nearly 8,000 members.

Members of the $91.3 million Star Choice Credit Union in Bloomington, Minn., voted on Jan. 4 in favor of consolidating with the $292 million Sharepoint Credit Union, also based in Bloomington.

Current SharePoint President/CEO Phillip Kopischke will continue in his position and current Star Choice President CEO Scott Olson will become SharePoint’s EVP over integration and asset/liability management, Star Choice said in a statement on its website.

“Despite operating as a profitable credit union, Star Choice Credit Union has recognized the challenges of continuing as a standalone financial institution given the rising interest rate environment and its relatively low capital position,” Star Choice said in its merger documents. “Together, the merged credit unions will be able to provide a wider range of products and services to serve their members. Additionally, the merged credit unions will achieve economies of scale, which will permit it to better compete in the increasingly competitive financial services industry. Lastly, the two institutions share similar cultures and business structure, as both are true ‘natural person’ credit unions.”

Sharepoint’s 60 employees operate six locations and serve 21,287 members.

There are no merger-related financial arrangements for the credit union’s five most highly compensated employees, according to Star Choice’s merger documents.

Chartered in 1931, Star Choice’s 16 employees operated a branch and served more than 6,000 employees.

The consolidation is scheduled to close on March 4.

Members of the $4.5 million Otero County Teachers Federal Credit Union in La Junta, Colo., on Jan. 4 approved its merger with the $42.5 million Fellowship Credit Union in Lamar, Colo., OCTFCU President/CEO A. Diane Payne said.

The credit union said in its merger documents that the consolidation is in the best interest of its 854 members because they will have access to additional services, competitive loan and share products, and more branches.

OCTFCU’s two employees operate one branch. Fellowship runs four branches and serves more than 6,000 members.

There are no merger-related financial arrangements, according to OCTFCU’s merger documents.

OCTFCU was chartered in 1956.

In addition to these three mergers, 21 proposed consolidations will be considered by members at their special meetings scheduled for the rest of January, February and through mid-March, as of Jan. 9, according to the NCUA.