ST. PAUL, Minn.–Two of Minnesota’s largest credit unions have announced they are seeking to merge.
The $2.192 billion SPIRE Credit Union and the $1.748-billion Hiway Credit Union have set a Sept 13 date for members to vote on the combination. The credit unions said NCUA has approved the proposal that would have Hiway CU merging into the community chartered SPIRE.
In a statement, the credit unions said if the deal is approved, Hiway and SPIRE will combine their boards and management teams, and the credit unions’ 600+ employees will be retained. SPIRE President/CEO Dan Stoltz will take the role of CEO, and Hiway President/CEO Dave Boden will become the new organization’s president.
In addition, a new name and brand will be created.
The Financials
Hiway Credit Union reported $3.552 million in net income through mid-year, with capital of 9.7%. It has 92,000 members. SPIRE, with 157,000 members, reported $5.861 million in net income and capital of 7.88% as of June 30.
“We’re proud to bring together two already strong credit unions for the betterment of all involved: our members, our people, and our communities,” said Boden.
The credit unions said all 26 branches, covering the core Twin Cities metro and reaching as far west as St. Cloud and as far north as Keewatin, Minn., will remain in operation.
“With the expanded branch network, and to meet the needs of a larger organization, we’re excited to be able to offer potential new opportunities to our people,” said Stoltz in a statement. “What’s more, our members will be able to conduct their business in different ways, with some of our branches offering a more tech-forward experience with interactive teller machines and many offering the more traditional teller line.”
Similar Roots
According to the credit unions, both organizations have similar Depression-era roots and both have made community support a top priority, providing both dollars and volunteer hours to community causes, including youth education and job experience through the city of St. Paul’s Right Track program, addressing basic needs such as food and shelter via organizations like Second Harvest and Feed My Starving Children, supporting veteran and military organizations including Beyond the Yellow Ribbon, and many more.
Both credit unions said they have also been longtime, strong backers of Gillette Children’s Hospital, and have offered financial literacy programs through organizations like Junior Achievement and Best Prep, as well as educational presentations for students, employee groups, and nonprofits.
In addition, both Hiway and SPIRE said they have given employees paid time off to volunteer for causes they are personally passionate about, and that all told, since 2020 Hiway and SPIRE combined have provided more than $5 million in numerous community give-back initiatives.
If members approve, the effective date of the merger would be Jan. 1, 2024.
It’s Called Fresh for a Reason. And We Offer Home Delivery. For Free!
The biggest, best and freshest news reporting in credit unions remains free in ’23! Each morning CUToday.info delivers its daily Fresh Today news update offering the latest headlines and breaking news right to your email, with the easy-to-read headlines format allowing you to click on the stories that interest you most in order to learn more.
If you haven’t yet signed up for the new email solution on which CUToday.info has partnered with ResponseGenius, you can do so here. Signing up requires less than one minute of your time—and it’s free!
Please note that after signing up you may need to go to your Spam/Junk folder and mark the morning headlines email as safe. CUToday.info does not provide its list of readers and emails to outside parties, and we will not be contacting you to sell you an extended warranty or sending you any links so you may cash in on an inheritance you didn’t know was coming.
And did we mention it’s free?
Please note and/or make your IT department or email administrator aware the emails will be coming from the domains CUTodayinfo.com and CUTodayinfoReply.com