FEDERAL WAY, Wash. - Saying that it had accomplished what it setout to do, a consortium of four credit union leagues known as CUAssociation of the West has quietly disbanded. The association, anumbrella group composed of the California, Nevada, Washington andOregon credit union leagues, was formed about four years ago tobring together the best practices of the four groups for theirmember credit unions. The organization represented approximately960 credit unions with some $100 billion in assets. "We'veofficially disbanded the corporation but that doesn't mean theleagues will stop working together in any way, shape or form,"insisted John Annaloro, president of the association and presidentand chief executive officer of the Washington Credit Union League.The California/Nevada Credit Union League said that the associationhad "completed its original objective of opening the availabilityof the products and services of the four state leagues to membercredit unions in all four states. "Credit unions are now takingadvantage of the services offered by the various leagues withoutthe need for a formal association," it said in a preparedstatement. Annaloro echoed that message, saying that the leagueswere now accomplishing much of the same goals "without theoverhead" of the umbrella organization. While Annaloro said he waspleased with the success of the association and vowed thatcooperation among the leagues would continue, he suggested that theassociation also created some problems among the members. "Therewere complexities from the association that got in the way ofcollaboration," he said. Those complexities, he said, includedhaving strong leaders at the helm of active and successful leagues- Annaloro in Washington, David L. Chatfield, president and CEO ofthe California and Nevada leagues, and Gene Poitras, president ofthe Credit Union Association of Oregon. All three were on the boardof the association. Other issues that the association wrestled, heindicated, included budget authority, workforce supervision and the"prioritization of joint activities which sometimes ran counter tothe prioritization of our collective boards, although the goalswere the same." Despite those complexities, Annaloro said theassociation achieved much during its short lifespan. "What it didwas open the door to a collaboration to a degree much greater thanwe have ever had," he said. "At all levels of our three tradeassociations, there is greater cross-participation than at any timein history. And we've proven the concept that by working togetherwe can give the members of one league the total services of all theleagues." Probably nowhere was the impact of the collaboration feltmore strongly than in the area of educational programs, officialssaid. Member credit unions were able to take advantage of programsin the four states. "Participation and networking opportunitieshave been exponentially increased," Annaloro said. "We opened upthe borders," added Matt Davidson, executive vice president of theCalifornia league and association treasurer. "It was verysuccessful in getting the leagues to cooperate," Davidson said. "Itwas very successful in getting some newer services to our membercredit unions." When the CU Association of the West was firstformed, there was some speculation about whether its role as anumbrella group might be expanded to other state leagues. "I'm notsure that the credit union leadership community is ready tosubordinate their traditionally statewide prioritization, planning,control," Annaloro said. He added that officials recognized theneed for some programs, such as governmental affairs, to remainunder local control. "Beyond that, there are certain efficienciesthat can come by not duplicating administrative functions . . . andwe all wish to eliminate those costs which aren't necessary inorder to put more money into programming, more money into programsfor small credit unions, for community credit unions, forgovernmental affairs, for advocacy, for helping the public betterunderstand the role of credit unions and that expands membership,"Annaloro said. Officials said they expected cooperation among theleagues to continue without the need for the umbrella organization."The California and Nevada credit union leagues value the exchangeof information and ideas that resulted, and look forward tocollaborating with our fellow western leagues and credit unions onother projects in the future," said the statement from theCalifornia/Nevada league. "The objectives and the goals and thebenefits have not been abandoned," Annaloro added. "We're justfinding a way to do it without the overhead of having anotherlimited liability corporation or association. As long as thebenefits continue, we are succeeding." -

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