Growth can mean gaining bragging rights as membership and assetsexpand.

But some say growth has to be measured not just in terms ofmember headcount and asset size but in terms of what the increasesactually bring to the membership.

Both Heritage Federal Credit Union in southwest Indiana andREALTORS Federal Credit Union, with a nationwide membership, haveenjoyed impressive growth. Heritage membership increased 56% from2002 to 2012, reaching 40,000, and assets sprouted 83% to $400million. REALTORS, a virtual credit union only two years old,topped Callahan’s list of fastest growing credit unions with a24.7% membership jump in one year before merging in May withNorthwest Federal Credit Union.

Credit Union Times asked Heritage President/CEO RuthJenkins how important growth has been to the credit union.

“The easy answer is that growth has been a by-product of some ofthe other goals we have wanted to achieve,” she answered. “Growthis just one measure of success, that we are indeed meeting thefinancial needs of the members and the community. One of the thingsI say here is that banks may build story upon story, but we letstory upon story build us.”

Later this year, Heritage will break ground on a new branch inNewburgh to replace one of its first facilities. Jenkinssaid rather than retrofit the branch, which she describes asdated, the credit union conducted an extensive facilitiesstudy.

Then a new administration building is targeted forgroundbreaking in the summer of 2013. The headquarters structure,which is less than 10 years old, was at capacity after three years.Conference rooms have been chopped into offices and waiting areasare now filled with work stations.

The two buildings will be next door to each other. Jenkinsexplained the credit union already owned some real estate to theeast of the offices and had an opportunity to buy land to thewest.

“Having three parcels of land together gave us a wonderfulopportunity to not only build the branch but also expand ourheadquarters to accommodate the employee growth and allow forfuture expansion. We can add a third story to the building,” shenoted.

Jenkins indicated several factors went into the expansiondecision. One was being able to acquire the additional land tobuild new headquarters. Having the branch and headquarters next toeach other helped with cost.

Another factor involved keeping operations going duringconstruction rather than renting and moving into temporaryquarters. Using the three parcels, the new branch can beconstructed while the old branch continues operating. Once the movefrom the old to the new branch is completed, the old branch can berazed to begin constructing the administration facility. Thatcurrent headquarters will be revamped to provide needed space foroperations such as lending and commercial services.

“We don’t have to displace any of our employees, we don’t haveto displace any of our members, and we don’t have to pay for thecommunication and advertising that would go into rerouting ourmembers to a temporary operation,” Jenkins noted.

In addition to finding space for additional staff, what otherchallenges does growth present?

“The challenge is when you have a reputation for success, youcan’t allow any back steps. We have to continue providing thecommunity with a high level of service. The other issue with growthis you have to worry about your capital position and other issuesbased on your asset size. Keeping those in check becomes verychallenging,”

“You cannot over communicate to your staff what is going on andwhy certain decisions have been made. We look at things likedeposit growth and loan growth, and the various ratios that areeither important to our examiners or are key metrics for the boardto measure our success. If employees understand those, it givesthem some ownership and buy-in on what is happening.”

Martin Edwards, chairman of REALTORS FCU, has been serving asspokesman since the credit union merged with Northwest. As far as Edwards is concerned, themerger is an opportunity to grow even more rapidly.

Edwards noted REALTORS, chartered only a couple years ago, waslaunched facing the hazards of the recession. As a virtual creditunion serving the National Association of Realtors, REALTORS isable to offer membership to the real estate industry throughout theUnited States.

“Our members are 99% self-employed and independent contractors,”he noted. “They don’t work 8 to 5. They work when they’re involvedin a sale, weekends or nights. The virtual credit union is a veryimportant part of its appeal, and Northwest was building a virtualsite.”

“Another thing that fueled growth is that we introduced inNovember an app you could put on your iPhone. That’s been gainingabout 10% a month.”

The idea of a merger with Northwest, he explained, appealedbecause many of Northwest’s members are also self-employed. “Thatwas a big factor,” Edwards stated. In addition, Northwest is amember of the shared branch network. The REALTORS Federal CreditUnion brand will be retained as a division of Northwest, andEdwards expects the merger will speed REALTORS 10-year growth plansignificantly.

As the former president of the National Association of Realtors,which boasts 1 million members, Edwards sees growth aspositive.

However, “there are certainly regulatory reasons why you’ve gotto be careful about growth. Only grow as fast as you can makemoney. I think the thing that attracted us was that we could mergewith someone who would push our goals and expectations up probablyfive to 10 years.”

“Retaining the REALTOR brand, retaining the ability to market toour members, gaining a seat on their board, are things that willhelp Northwest grow and help us grow inside Northwest.”

A key question, he continued, is how you define growth. Hepersonally defines growth as being able to offer better andstronger products and services. Counting dollars and membersdoesn’t necessarily mean a lot. What, he asks, are the membersgetting out of the credit union? Is the credit union able to maketheir daily lives better?