The nearly 5,000 members of the $51 million StarTrust Federal Credit Union in Houston will be asked to voteat the end of April to decide whether to merge into the $116million, 22,532-member InvesTex Credit Union in Houston.

“All of their employees are coming on board with us and theirpresident/CEO, Debra Weir, is coming in as an executive vicepresident,” said Keith Kearney, CEO/president of InvesTex CU.

They were formerly Enron Credit Union and went through a fewchallenges even though it was a totally separate entity, because ofthe name. I think they have done incredibly well given thosecircumstances over the last decade, plus,” Kearney said.

StarTrust's roots date back to 1978 when it opened as HoustonNatural Gas Credit Union to offer financial services to HNGemployees. In 1986, the gas company's name was changed to EnronCorp. and the credit union's name also was changed to EnronFCU.

However, the credit union's deposits, loans and membership fellafter Enron filed for bankruptcy protection in December 2001. Tomake a fresh start, the credit union changed its name, moved to anew location and expanded its field of membership during the springand summer of 2002.

If StarTrust members approve the merger, Kearney expects thefinancial merger to be complete by June 30 and the data merger tofollow in two or three months after that.

“Our combined boards, the StarTrust CEO and I see this merger asa partnership that really helps both memberships and makes usstrong in a very large Houston market,” he said.