Beyond nostalgia, the chairman of Treasure State CorporateCredit Union said this week he has no real regrets about thedemise of the Montana corporate because all of the existingwholesale and processing services look to be handled seamlessly byits new parent, Kansas Corporate Credit Union of Wichita.

The major caveat as a result of the Jan. 1 merger will be ensuring a Montana voice in therestructuring, said Kevin Mayer, the outgoing head of Helena-basedTreasure State who also is president/CEO of the $56 millionRichland CU of Sidney.

On that, the president/CEO of Kansas Corp., Larry Eisenhauer,said his board at its first meeting in late January under the newstructure does expect to consider the representation issue based onthe number of Montana CUs agreeing to recapitalization.

So far the results are “quite positive,” he said.

“We already have very good Montana representation with 85% ofthe credit unions committed to capitalization,” said Eisenhauer,stressing the Kansas corporate expects to continue and improvewholesale services to the 57 CUs that have been part ofTreasure. Under the merger, Kansas Corporate will also retaina Helena office.

“Ever since NCUA came out with those regulations following U.S.Central, we knew it wasn't feasible to do business on our own andwe had to look for a new partner,” explained Mayer, maintainingmost members of Treasure State remain “comfortable” with theconsolidation and so far there has been “not even a hiccup” in thetransition.

Treasure State was formed in 1977.

As has been the pattern in some areas many of the largest CUs,while keeping token accounts in the surviving corporates, havechosen to align with new providers and that looks to be the case inMontana.

“It's an issue we haven't decided on just yet but we know theclock is ticking,” declared James Kenyon, president/CEO of the $1.2billion Whitefish CU, the state's largest, which still does itsprocessing business with a Helena CUSO but has the Federal ReserveSystem in its sights.

Kenyon said his CU, which does not offer checking accounts, hasbeen concentrating on “keeping positive” in an economy stillsuffering from 12% unemployment. He said Whitefish, locatedin western Montana, has “not been as fortunate as the oil-richeastern part of the state” during the recession.