MIDFLORIDA Credit Union, which this month is completingconversion of six Tampa-area branches of the $3 billion Space Coast Credit Union it bought last year, announced plansto merge the $46 million Bay Pines FCU of Bay Pines, Fla.

The proposed Bay Pines consolidation by the $1.6 billion Lakeland creditunion caps a year of expansion moves including picking up additional branches, alsoin the Tampa area, of Regions Bank of Birmingham, Ala. pluscompleting the 2011 merger of troubled Bay Gulf FCU.

Kevin Jones, president/CEO of MIDFLORIDA, said his credit unionhas enjoyed healthy growth despite low loan rates and tight marginsand has managed to successfully add brick and mortar in centralFlorida.

By yearend MIDFLORIDA expects to have 36 branches including aPlant City facility opening Aug. 1, also taken over from RegionsBank, which found itself in branch overlap following its merger ofAmSouth Bank.

Jones said the proposed Bay Pines merger was discussed two yearsago with Anthony Dominick, its president/CEO, and only recently wasput back on the burner with economic concerns, compliance andproduct issues coming to the forefront.

Bay Pines, which services a Veterans Administration complex inthe community, has about 6,000 members and 7.76% net worth, lost$170,000 in 2011 and was $29,000 in the red for the firstquarter.

The Bay Pines merger is subject to member and regulatoryapproval with a member vote slated in August.

Regarding the Regions branches, including two in Hillsborough,Jones said his credit union was able to put together a good dealwith each facility averaging $700,000-$800,000, in good shapeand operationally ready. The locations of the former AmSouthfacilities have good access and were acquired through contacts madeby MIDFLORIDA's realtor.

Jones said like other credit unions in Florida and elsewhere,“We're not trying to bring in deposits and while the loan volumehas been good and we remain conservative, the very low rates put asqueeze on margins.”

He said also MIDFLORIDA, with 180,000 members and 10% capital,was never hit hard by what he called the first phase of the Floridarecession and housing collapse which placed the state in the ”sandstate” category.

As the economy tanked, ”we had more of a problem in phase two”but MIDFLORIDA did manage to recover, he said.