DULUTH, Ga. -- For the board of directors at Gwinnett Federal Credit Union, the first visit to their sister credit union in Poland a few years ago quickly became an eye-opening experience that continues to have an impression on just how far the "people helping people" philosophy really travels.

Representatives from the $100 million credit union, along with nearly 20 more from 10 Georgia credit unions and the Georgia Credit Union Affiliates, traveled to Poland for the country's 15th annual credit union meeting in Warsaw in late June. The alliance goes back 12 years when the Georgia-Polish Credit Union Partnership Program was established to help develop new products and services, train leaders of new Polish credit unions, share information and expertise, fund special projects, provide technical assistance and participate in exchange visits.

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

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

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

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

"Conceptually, it's hard to understand it until you actually go over there," said Dan Denning, GCUA vice president of knowledge development, on the Georgia-Poland partnership and the staff liaison between the two countries. "One of the fundamental things is we have deepened our relationships with each other and there is an appreciation of each other's cultures. It really has kept us grounded in the 'people helping people' philosophy."

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

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

Denning said when the partnership first began in 1995, there were several cooperative principles established that would occur including technical assistance, development of products and services and exchange visits. Looking forward to the next 10 years, Georgia and Poland have taken the principles up a notch to include timely issues such as defending against bank attacks, managing the media to create a constructive image and building and acquiring capital.

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