Perhaps the office in Brighton, Mich., reflects what'sbeen happening as Lake Trust Credit Union marks its first year.

The credit union was formed April 1, 2010, through a merger ofDetroit Edison Credit Union and NuUnion Credit Union. LTCU hasassets of $1.6 billion and the field of membership covers 35counties stretching from Lakes Huron and Erie on the east coast ofMichigan's lower peninsula to Lake Michigan on the west coast. Themove vaulted the credit union into the Billionaire's Club. It isnow the state's fourth largest credit union, serves more than158,000 members and operates 21 branches.

Although it was announced that Lansing would be headquarters,that posed a logistical problem. William Thiess, the head ofDetroit Edison CU and now president of LTCU, lives in the Detroitarea. Stephan Winninger, former NuUnion president/CEO and now theLTCU CEO, was located in Lansing roughly halfway across the state.That posed a question: How to deal with the geographicalseparation?

The answer was to establish an office in Brighton, a half-waypoint. The facility isn't a branch but simply an administrativeconvenience where the two men can work together and split thecommute. A conference room upstairs provides the same conveniencefor the 17 board members drawn from the two former creditunions.

Thiess, Winninger and the rest of the management staff areworking their way through a two-year plan.

“Efficiency was the driver for this merger,” Winninger said. “Wefigured we could be more efficient together than we could beseparately. We're trying to get those efficiencies as quickly aspossible.”

“One of our early agreements was when we both leave at the endof this year, those big decisions are made, and we don't burden thenext management team with clutter they have to clean up.”

Leave? Yes, both men will retire at the end of 2011. In fact,that was part of the transition plan as the merger was takingshape. Mitchell, Stankovic and O'Rourke and Associates are workingto help the board select the new CEO. A decision is expected aboutthe end of the third quarter or beginning of the fourth.

Michigan's troubled economy has made efficiency even moreimportant. The state has consistently lost population for 20 years.Houses that sold for more than $100,000 a few years ago are nowavailable for a fraction of that. With NCUA assessments, the formercredit unions had to move fast just to stay even.

“That's one reason the merger was attractive,” Winninger said.“Let's do it now before we have to.”

Thiess indicated LTCU has identified about 20 conversions thatwill take place by June 30. The list includes phone systems, ATMnetworks and credit card processing.

“We've done a lot of training, data-scrubbing and cleanup,”Winninger added. “It's probably the biggest project. We've donequite a bit in terms of reorganizing the management team andstaff.”

“We came up with a very complex math formula early on,” hequips. “A plus B equals C. Not a bigger A, not a bigger B, but twocredit unions coming together to be a whole new entity. This is anopportunity to re-examine everything and determine what makes sensefor organization C.”

“The joint leadership model that Bill and I have worked outcould be like a three-legged race at a county fair. But it's workedout pretty well. We have worked very well together.”

A lot of what they've accomplished is transparent. A membervisiting a branch since the merger might see a few changes, someproduct names might be different, but the same people wouldprobably be there.

Thiess said when Detroit Edison CU and NuUnion first met todiscuss the merger, they discovered they were very similar.

“They looked like brother and sister,'” Thiess said. “Because ofthat, there haven't been a lot of huge changes.”

That's true even though Lake Trust actually represents themerger of four cultures. DECU took over the failed Huron RiverValley Credit Union. NuUnion had merged with Ottawa SchoolEmployees Credit Union.

Overall, the to-do list seems to be moving along. Financialprojections didn't call for positive income until the middle of2011. Actually, Winninger indicated, Lake Trust has been profitablesix out of the last eight months. Year-to-date earnings at the endof April were $1.4 million. Membership has grown by 1,500.Satisfaction reflected in three member surveys has increased.

“We've done the right thing by our members,” Thiess said. “Itwould certainly have been more comfortable just to ride into thesunset. We're laying the foundation for the future.” 

Lake Trust Credit Union

Assets: $1.6 billion

Members: 158,744

Primary sponsor: Community charter covering 35 counties

Branches: 21

Capital-to-asset ratio: 8%

Loan portfolio: $1 billion

Employees: 400

Steve Winninger

William Thiess

Retirement plans and hobbies: Coaching and referringsoccer; golfing.

Graduate of University of Detroit

Married, two grown children

CEO of Detroit Edison Credit Union since 1990

Graduate of University of Iowa

Married, two grown children

CEO of NuUnion/Lake Trust since 1991

Retirement plans and hobbies: Collecting and working on oldcars, specifically Minis; woodworking; playing piano and bagpipes;perhaps some consulting.