DULUTH, Ga. -- For the board of directors at Gwinnett FederalCredit Union, the first visit to their sister credit union inPoland a few years ago quickly became an eye-opening experiencethat continues to have an impression on just how far the "peoplehelping people" philosophy really travels.

Representatives from the $100 million credit union, along withnearly 20 more from 10 Georgia credit unions and the Georgia CreditUnion Affiliates, traveled to Poland for the country's 15th annualcredit union meeting in Warsaw in late June. The alliance goes back12 years when the Georgia-Polish Credit Union Partnership Programwas established to help develop new products and services, trainleaders of new Polish credit unions, share information andexpertise, fund special projects, provide technical assistance andparticipate in exchange visits.

Over the years, Georgia credit union and league reps havetraveled to Poland and Polish credit union officials have traveledto the United States more than a dozen times. During the latestvisit, the Georgia delegation visited Vienna, Austria and Warsaw,Poland, met with Polish dignitaries, toured partner credit unionsand attended a number of formal events. For Marshall Boutwell,president/CEO of Gwinnett FCU, the tour was a reminder of whycredit unions were formed in the first place.

"We reconnected with our credit union roots. We reconnected withan institution that helps men and women in tough economic times,"Boutwell said. "The last trips have been with [Gwinnett FCU] boardmembers and it's been a learning opportunity for them. We came torealize that we got as much or more than what we gave."

Gwinnett FCU has served as a mentor to a small credit union inPoland that has grown its assets from $100,000 since its launch inthe late 1990s to $5 million today. While the financial institutionhas made significant strides, Boutwell said it is facing some ofthe same struggles that smaller credit unions grapple with in theUnited States, among them, staying competitive. In fact, the Polishcredit union is in talks to merge with a larger credit union.Still, Gwinnett FCU, which recently received the 2006 LouiseHerring award for credit unions in the $100 million category forits work in Poland, will continue to be a sounding board for itssister credit union for as long as needed.

Despite their relative newness, Poland's 67 credit unionscontinue to make an impact. They grew 15% in 2006, now serve 1.6million members, have $1.8 billion in assets and have opened 1,600branches, according data provided by GCUA. Capital is at an 8%average and loan-to-share is at about 70%. Meanwhile, the industryforesees future challenges with increased competition, increasingconsolidation of credit unions, maintaining philosophic values andpolitics, the GCUA said.

"Conceptually, it's hard to understand it until you actually goover there," said Dan Denning, GCUA vice president of knowledgedevelopment, on the Georgia-Poland partnership and the staffliaison between the two countries. "One of the fundamental thingsis we have deepened our relationships with each other and there isan appreciation of each other's cultures. It really has kept usgrounded in the 'people helping people' philosophy."

This year alone, Georgia's credit unions, GCUA and Polish creditunion officials have crisscrossed continents several times. InApril, GCUA hosted Mariusz Stachnik and Piotr Sudiak from abusiness subsidiary of the National Association of Cooperative andSavings Credit Unions to engage GCUA and credit union staff andmanagement in discussion about individual credit/debit cardprograms as well as call centers to support cards programs.Stachnik and Sudiak are in charge of designing and implementing adebit card and call center program that will issue one milliondebit cards to Polish credit union members by the end of 2007. Thevisit focused on card systems, back office operations, IT,compliance issues and marketing.

In May, $2.3 billion Delta Community Credit Union sent foursenior staffers to Poland for a weeklong internship with theirpartner credit union Jawarzno CU. The intent of the visit was tohave participants familiarize themselves with their partner creditunion's operations, products and services, operations andcompetitive challenges.

Denning said when the partnership first began in 1995, therewere several cooperative principles established that would occurincluding technical assistance, development of products andservices and exchange visits. Looking forward to the next 10 years,Georgia and Poland have taken the principles up a notch to includetimely issues such as defending against bank attacks, managing themedia to create a constructive image and building and acquiringcapital.

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