“Mountain West Credit Union Association” has been picked as the designated new name for the soon-to-be-merged Arizona-Colorado-Wyoming leagues.

The branding selection comes as the 155 members of the three leagues–Arizona Credit Union System and the Credit Union Associations of Colorado and Wyoming–began voting this week in a mail ballot across the three states to formally combine operations this June.

The results are to be announced during the annual convention of the Colorado trade group March 24-26 at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs.

Under the restructuring, Scott Earl, who has headed up the Arizona league, will become president/CEO of MWCUA, retaining a headquarters in Denver with a scaled down satellite office in Phoenix and a smaller site in Casper, Wyo.

Plans for the merger were formally unveiled last November and follow a regional trend of league consolidation under way since 2007, led by the combination of the North and South Dakota Credit Union Leagues to form the Credit Union Association of the Dakotas.

Just two weeks ago the New Jersey Credit Union League and the Maryland/DC Credit Union Association said they are exploring a possible merger to occur later this year. New consolidations have sprung up in the last year among the Alabama and Florida Leagues and by the Washington and Oregon Credit Union Association with new back-office ties under way among the Illinois and Michigan leagues.

Earl said he is in the process of reorganizing the staffs of the league trio and the boards “have given me time to do that. This is not something we want to rush into.”

The three leagues have a combined staff of 37 employees. The Arizona league, for one, has reduced its staff 25% over the last year, he said, and under MWCUA is making plans to perhaps relocate to a smaller rented space closer to the state capital. The headquarters are presently located off a major interstate freeway in north Phoenix.

The member balloting taking place this week, said Earl, follows a series of town hall meetings across the three states to gauge approval. “We’ve had a positive response,” he concluded.

Instant Insights /

Mountain West Assn. Is Proposed Name for Combined CU League

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