PORT TOWNSEND — The board of directors of Quimper Community Federal Credit Union, with $47 million in assets, headquarters in Port Townsend and a branch office in Port Hadlock, has signed a letter of intent to merge with much-larger Kitsap Credit Union.
Quimper has 7,058 members in Jefferson and Clallam counties who will benefit from new home, business and auto loan services, a higher dividend rate, a much broader network of offices and ATMs, additional credit card options and robust online (including mobile and text) banking services, said Charlie Arthur, Quimper’s board chairman.
Based in Bremerton with 17 offices in Kitsap, Pierce and Mason counties, Kitsap Credit Union has $901 million in assets and 85,000 members.
The merger will require a vote by the members of Quimper as well as approval by federal and state regulators.
Officials of both credit unions told the Peninsula Daily News that there would be no layoffs if the merger is approved.
Quimper has 18 employees, including CEO Debbi Greenspane.
Kitsap Credit Union has 326 employees. Both credit unions are not-for-profit financial cooperatives, with unpaid boards of directors elected by their members.
“Through a partnership with Kitsap Credit Union, this merger will provide the economies of scale and resources to provide products and services that our members have been asking for but we could not provide as a small credit union,” Greenspane said in a statement.
“I am thrilled that through this venture our members will have increased access with 17 additional branch locations and 52 ATMs throughout the Peninsula area and availability of thousands of ATMs through the national Coop network.”
Arthur, owner of the Re/Max First Inc. real estate agency in Port Townsend, was born and raised in Port Townsend, joined the credit union as a teenager and has been on the Quimper board since 1999 — his father was on the board before that.
He said discussions with Kitsap Credit Union had been underway since February with the goal to “provide more services, more loans” and also deal more effectively with the challenges of the economy and “increasing pace and expense of new regulatory requirements.”
He will join the nine-member Kitsap Credit Union board of directors after the merger.
A member of the current Quimper Supervisory Committee will join Kitsap’s four-member Supervisory Committee.
The merger would rebrand Quimper as branches of Kitsap Credit Union and give the credit union its first offices in Jefferson County.
Elliot Gregg, Kitsap’s president and CEO, said:
“One of our goals is to keep the close community ties that Quimper has established — one thing we’ve always tried to do is to stay local. We’ve always been involved with the local community.”
Leah Olson, Kitsap’s vice president of marketing, noted that the credit union was part of 310 community organizations in 2011 through “volunteering, in-kind donations and sponsorships.”
Both credit unions teach “financial literacy” to high school students.
The merger vote by the Quimper membership is expected to take place in late September or early October. No action is needed by the Kitsap Credit Union membership.
“The necessary steps between now and then are formalizing the merger agreement, gaining approval from the National Credit Union Administration and the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions and providing Quimper members more in-depth information about the merger,” said Olson.
“One of the ways we’ll provide more information is through scheduling town hall meetings, inviting Quimper members to come hear more and share their concerns.”
Both credit unions have deep community roots.
Quimper Community Federal Credit Union was established in Port Townsend in 1939.
Membership eligibility is open to anyone who lives, works or worships in Jefferson and Clallam counties and their immediate families.
Kitsap Credit Union was established in Bremerton in 1934.
Membership eligibility is open to anyone who lives, works, worships or attends school in Washington state and their immediate family members.
Quimper is its first merger. Kitsap Credit Union more than 30 years ago absorbed the assets of a small credit union in Bremerton at the request of federal regulators.
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PDN Publisher and Editor John Brewer can be reached at 360-417-3500 or at john.brewer@peninsuladailynews.com.
