The proposed trade group combining Arizona, Colorado and Wyoming credit union leagues has settled on a new name: Mountain West Credit Union Association.
The new moniker was formally unveiled as the 155 members in the three groups, the Arizona Credit Union System and the Credit Union Associations of Colorado and Wyoming, formally vote in a mail ballot for approval of the league consolidation, as announced last November.
The results of the voting were to be released during the annual convention of the Colorado trade group last week at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs.
Under the restructuring, Scott Earl, who has headed up the Arizona league, will become president/CEO of Mountain West, which will retain a headquarters in Denver with a scaled down satellite office in Phoenix and a smaller site in Casper, Wyo.
The league consolidation tracks a regional trend under way since 2007 led by the combination of the North and South Dakota Credit Union Leagues to form what is now Credit Union Association of the Dakotas.
Just last month the New Jersey Credit Union League and the Maryland and D.C. Credit Union Association said they are exploring a possible merger to occur later this year. New consolidations have sprung up in the last year among the Alabama and Florida Leagues and by the Washington and Oregon Credit Union Association with new back-office ties under way among the Illinois and Michigan leagues.
Earl said he is the process of reorganizing the staffs of the league trio and the boards "have given me time to do that. This is not something we want to rush into."
The three leagues have a combined staff of 37 employees. The Arizona league, for one, has reduced its staff by 25% over the last year, he said, and under MWCUA is making plans to perhaps relocate to a smaller rented space closer to the state capital. The headquarters are presently located off a major interstate freeway in north Phoenix.
The member balloting started last week, said Earl, and follows a series of town hall meetings across the three states to gauge approval. "We’ve had a positive response," he concluded.
