America First Federal Credit Union of Utah maintained that it was well aware of the state's deepening financial problems when it bought into an NCUA-engineered merger of the $159 million Community One of Las Vegas, now a division of the $4.9 billion Riverdale, Utah CU.
"We're well aware of the tremendous economic difficulties in Las Vegas but we're very optimistic about the long run," said John Lund, executive vice president of America First, which is in the process of formally merging Community One branches.
The Las Vegas CU, hit by severe real estate losses, fell into state and NCUA conservatorship Aug. 11 with America First being the winning bidder.
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Certainly in the short term, said Lund, CUs like the Community One division "will be experiencing difficulty in light of the real estate avalanche, but remember these kinds of problems are cyclical."
Las Vegas will rebound with its huge tourist business, said Lund noting also Nevada has one of the lowest ratios for member penetration "so you can see the potential for growth."
"Don't hold me to the numbers but I think Nevada is at 18-20% penetration and the national ratio is 33%," said Lund.
Lund's comments on Community One come as Nevada CU executives gird for more balance sheet problems amid high unemployment, depressed home prices and casino retrenchment.
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