Saying difficulties in "surviving" was the primary factor,  Central Washington Federal Credit Union of Yakima has finalized it's plans to merge with GESA Credit Union, who is based out of Tri-Cities.

Wednesday,  GESA issued a news release that included the following statement from Terry Wheat, the CEO and and President of CWFCU (Central Washington Federal Credit Union):

“In this time of ever-changing conditions in an unpredictable financial world, it becomes more and more difficult for a small credit union to survive . The decision to merge with Gesa Credit Union, a financially sound organization, will benefit our members in a way that Central Washington is not able to accomplish on its own.”

The Yakima institution, which has only one branch located at 901 Triple Crown Way in Yakima, will become the latest branch of GESA as of December 8th.

According to the website creditunionsonlinecom,   as of June 14th. 2014,  CWFCU had 1,268 members, 3 full-time and one part time employee besides management.   Their assets were valued at just over $9.2 million dollars, with $4.4 million worth of loans.

GESA will assume all financial obligations and assets of CWFCU, and the Triple Crown Way location will become GESA's first branch in the Yakima Valley area.

A special election was held in August by CWFCU members to determine if they wanted to pursue the merger, and it was approved.

GESA has 119,000 members, operates 13 branches between Walla Walla, Tri-Cities area, Wenatchee and East Wenatchee, and has $1.35 billion dollars in assets as of June 2014.

 

 

 

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