WASHINGTON – Innovation is still the key for credit unions looking for new ways to serve their members, according to Callahan & Associates, Inc. “Although the industry continues to experience slow share and member growth, credit unions continue to develop innovative ways to serve the unmet financial needs of the marketplace, said Chip Filson, president of Callahan & Associates. The $40 million Hope Community Credit Union in Jackson, Miss., which collaborates with churches and other nonprofit organizations to reach underserved communities, is just one of many examples of “credit unions fulfilling their mission to provide services other financial institutions cannot or will not provide,” Filson said.

Hope Community CU was one of several financial institutions that received a $100,000 certificate of deposit last November from the CRA Qualified Investment Fund for its $100 million Gulf Coast Redevelopment initiative. The credit union said it has been using the proceeds to help provide business recovery loans, nonprofit recovery loans, and consumer recovery products and services in FEMA-designated assistance areas hit by last year's hurricanes. Hope Community CU serves communities in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi.

As of March 31, the industry had 86.6 million members, a membership increase of 900,000 from a year earlier, according to Callahan. Here is a look at membership growth by state: