LENEXA, Kan.. - Education and "constant communication" are thekeys to high membership retention following a merger, according toCommunity America Credit Union. The $1.3 billion Kansas City-basedCU said it retained 9,500 of the 9,800 members of the defunctFarmland Credit Union of Kansas City after it was formally mergedinto Community America on July 1. Though the merger itself was nothigh profile, the collapse of the CU's parent, Farmland Industries,one of the nation's largest farmer-owned coops, had been widelyaired on local TV and in newspaper stories for weeks as thecorporation laid off hundreds of employees. Cognizant of memberfears and concerns about the status of assets in the $45 millionFarmland CU, Community America went to extra lengths to reassureFarmland CU members of a smooth transition. "We're particularlypleased that we could get our message across and offer productsthat appealed to members of Farmland," declared Lisa Ginter,executive vice president of Community America. Community acquiredFarmland after the Kansas City CU sought a merger partner followinga May 31 bankruptcy filing by Farmland Industries, which got intofinancial trouble over its investment practices. Farmland, whichhad been on the Fortune 500 list and had more than $1.1 billion inunsecured debt at its bankruptcy filing, has been steadilyunloading subsidiaries including the sale of fertilizer and beefprocessing plants and negotiating to spin off pork processing andoil refining operations. In letters and e-mails sent to Farmland CUmembers last May, Community America's president, Michael A.Patrick, as well as Ginter thanked members for "their loyalty andsupport" of the CU over 72 years and "now we look forward to thisnext chapter of excellent financial service to you." Farmlandmembers were urged to stop by a nearby Community America branch "toget acquainted" as well as log on to Community's web site. In a May7 letter, Patrick congratulated the Farmland CU membership "forapproval of the merger" and giving "solid support for this excitingnew direction." The letter was signed by Michael Coffey, the formerpresident of Farmland CU who has retired. Coffey also wrote itselected Community America as a merger partner based on theinstitution's "high standards of integrity and excellent memberservice." As part of the transition program, Community Americastationed staff members in Farmland CU's main office to answermember questions. At the merger, Farmland had 13 employees of whichall were hired by Community and initially stayed on the job. [email protected]