NORTH CANTON, Ohio - Diebold, the international ATM manufacturer headquartered in Ohio, offers a relationship through a subsidiary, Verdi and Company, which can help a CU, particularly one with a newly acquired community charter, better evaluate possible sites for placing new branches. "We wanted to be sure we were building our new branch in the right location," said Alan Smith, CEO of the $56 million Hopewell Federal Credit Union, headquartered in Heath, Ohio, a recent Diebold client. "Verdi helped us achieve our strategic goals by building in the parameters for profit and loss over a period of time based on an examination of the demographics in a 2 1/2-mile radius of each proposed site." Verdi uses a specialized information and projection package called Pointrac to help guide its recommendations. In Hopewell's case, the advice led to the CU choosing to build a 2,500 square-foot branch in one location over purchasing an existing 1,750 square foot building from another institution in another location. Verdi also recommended the CU outfit the new site with a variety of different Diebold products for interacting with members, the CU said.