About half of polled New York credit union leaders areoptimistic about their regional economy and more than 60%anticipate loan growth in 2014, according to a new economic surveyfrom the Credit Union Association of New York in Albany.

Nearly 40% of credit union executives are pessimistic abouttheir regional economy, but only 6.9% anticipate a decline in loangrowth while 31.9% expect loan growth to remain the same this year,according to survey results.

The survey breakdown responses showed that 50.7% of credit unionexecutives were somewhat optimistic about their regional economyand nearly 7% were very optimistic. The survey breakdown responsesalso revealed that 37.3% of credit union leaders were somewhatpessimistic about their regional economy while more than 5% werevery pessimistic.

“These findings reflect a cautious optimism among New Yorkcredit union leaders as our economy continues to recover,” saidWilliam J. Mellin, CUANY president/CEO. “It's encouraging tosee that, while there are still many challenges facing ourindustry, the majority of New York credit unions are planning toincrease their lending, serve more members and expand the productsand services they provide in the year ahead.”

That “cautious optimism” was also reflected in the survey thatshowed 53% of credit unions have no plans to hire new employees in2014 and 72% will not open new branches.

Nonetheless, 57% credit unions executives said they expect toexpand their products and services, while the same percentageexpects growth in credit union shares this year.

Other survey findings included:

• Among respondents that offer business loans, 76% areanticipating growth in 2014.
• Among executives whose credit unions offer mortgage refinances,46% are anticipating an unchanged level of growth this year, while31% are anticipating a decline and only 24% are anticipatinggrowth.
• Of the credit that unions that offer first mortgage loans, 43%percent are anticipating growth while 44% are expecting acontinuation of the same levels this year.
• Among respondents whose credit unions offer student loans, 42%are anticipating growth and 48% expect continuation of the samelevels.

Regional comparisons included some stark differences:

• Credit union leaders in the Adirondack, Metropolitan andRochester regions are the most optimistic about their regionaleconomies for 2014, while those in the Central New York, FingerLakes and Long Island regions are the least optimistic.
• A total of 67% of respondents in the Rochester region areprojecting growth in first mortgage loans for 2014, the highestnumber statewide.
• Seventy percent of respondents in the Metropolitan region areplanning to hire new employees this year, compared to 40 percent orless in the other chapters.
• More respondents are planning to expand their products andservices in the Utica-Rome region (100%), the Central New Yorkregion (71%) and the Catskill-Hudson and Rochester regions (67%)than other regions.

Nearly 80 credit union leaders representing every asset categoryand region in New York State completed the online survey inDecember, according to CUANY.