GOSHEN, Ind. — In the latest example of trademark flaps, the $450 million Elkhart County Farm Bureau Credit Union is shedding the 'Farm Bureau' moniker and will become known as "Interra" Credit Union late this summer.
"We did not roll over easily for this but we're hoping the change doesn't hurt us much," declared Jack A. Sheets, president/CEO, who drew parallels with other well-known cases among airline and insurance firms of corporate sponsors demanding CUs rebrand to avoid trademark conflicts.
It was uncertain how many or if other CUs across the U.S. with a link to local farm bureaus would also have to follow Elkhart County's lead in changing their names with attorneys for the American Farm Bureau Federation in Washington insisting it had no other pending cases.
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Negotiations with AFBF over continued use of the 'Farm Bureau' name have been underway for years with what Sheets said was a board decision last year to agree to licensing/icon demands that the Goshen CU, which formerly was part of the county Farm Bureau operation , cease use of the name "for competitive reasons."
Following the lines of Nationwide Insurance's consolidation of its bank and CU, there was talk at one time within AFBF of the Goshen CU becoming part of an existing Nevada thrift, the $550 million Farm Bureau Bank which serves state farm bureau federations.
"Look, I'm a diehard credit union and coop man," said Sheets, noting he personally would have discouraged his board from pursuing that course if the issue ever surfaced.
Meanwhile, the Goshen CU said it picked Weber Marketing Group of Seattle to handle the rebranding campaign tentatively slated for Aug. 4.
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