The hard times in Nevada, getting increased national attention by the day, continued this week to take a financial toll on the state's credit unions with more layoffs and one CU, Cumorah of Las Vegas, reportedly shutting four of its eight branches and slicing its employment rolls nearly in half.

"I think it's fair to say that 2009 is brutally ugly," declared Wayne Tew, president/CEO of the $597 million Clark County CU, one of a handful of Nevada CUs that managed a profit in the second quarter. The CU recorded $2 million second-quarter net income, rebounding from a $14.2 million loss in the first quarter.

But like many other Nevada CUs, Clark County froze salaries, reduced employment through attrition from 105 to 95 and undertook a host of cost cutting steps.

As for the $190 million Cumorah, the Las Vegas Review Journal noted in a recap of the severe problems hitting banks and CUs, that 42 of Cumorah's 101 employees had been laid off over the last 18 months and it has closed four of its eight branches.

The Las Vegas paper also cited Cumorah's dismal financial record including a $6.4 million loss in the second quarter on top of a $917,000 first quarter loss plus a 3.7% loan delinquency ratio. Officials of Cumorah did not return phone calls.

"Yes, we are definitely now at the nation's epicenter of foreclosures and the financial crisis," said William Ferrence, CEO of the $515 million Boulder Dam CU of Boulder City. He said his own CU in a Las Vegas suburb has also felt the impact "of casino layoffs and 12.5% unemployment" but a conservative policy on loan loss allowances has put it in good stead.

Like other CEOs, Ferrence acknowledged regulatory alarm at Nevada conditions considering "we've already had one conservatorship" referring to NCUA's Aug. 11 merger of $159 million Community One CU of Las Vegas, into America First FCU of Riverdale, Utah.

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