Two local credit unions merge

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November 7, 2009

By DAN HEATH The Press Republican Sat Nov 07, 2009, 10:28 PM EST

PLATTSBURGH — Two local credit unions have merged.

UFirst Federal Credit Union and Northern Corridor Community Federal Credit Union merged effective Oct. 1.

The credit unions will now operate as UFirst Federal Credit Union.

UFirst CEO Linda Bourgeois said the merger brings together credit unions with a strong presence in their respective areas, UFirst in southern Clinton County and Northern Corridor in the north.

"This allows us to give our members better service and greater access to our services," she said.

Former Northern Corridor Community Credit Union CEO Lorraine Bourdeau said the merger came about as Northern Corridor looked to create a Plattsburgh presence as part of its five-year business plan. The goal was to better serve the approximately 500 members who live in the Plattsburgh area.

She retired the day after the merger took effect, after nine years as CEO. She has more than 39 years of experience in the credit union industry.

All of the other Northern Corridor employees will continue in the Northern Tier offices. Kasey Kirk has been named UFirst Northern Tier Operations Manager and is now part of the management team.

"UFirst is pleased to welcome the staff of Northern Corridor Community Federal Credit Union to the UFirst team," Bourgeois said.

All will retain their level of seniority as they join UFirst.

"That was very important for this merger," Bourdeau said.

It allows their customers to continue to see the familiar faces they have through the years.

Bourgeois said the merger doubled UFirst's size to about $50 million in assets. UFirst has now acquired the four Northern Corridor locations.

The Wyeth Rouses Point and Wyeth Chazy locations remain open to only Wyeth employees. The offices in Mooers and at Cornerstone Pharmacy in Rouses Point, as well as the UFirst offices in Plattsburgh, are open to those who live, work, worship or attend school in Clinton County.

The Cornerstone Drug and Gift location is the only financial institution in the Village of Rouses Point.

Bourdeau said Northern Corridor started as the Ayerst Employees Federal Credit Union in 1952. It originally only served that company's employees, but applied for and received a community charter in 2005.

UFirst started as the SUNY Plattsburgh Federal Credit Union in 1971. It merged with the Saranac Employees Federal Credit Union in 1986 and the Plattsburgh City/Town Municipal Employees Federal Credit Union in 1988.

The credit union applied for and received a community charter in 2002. At that time, it operated from offices in the basement of Hawkins Hall.

"Once we converted to a community charter, we needed more space," Bourgeois said.

That led to the start of construction of its new offices at the corner of Rugar Street and Ampersand Drive in 2006, the same year it adopted the UFirst Federal Credit Union.

The new offices opened in 2007. UFirst maintains a satellite office in the college bookstore.

"We are very grateful for the years we were located at Plattsburgh State," Bourgeois said.

UFirst continues to support the Plattsburgh State Foundation and offer two scholarships through the college. One is a community service scholarship and the other is a North Country community scholarship for students who live in Clinton, Essex or Franklin counties.

Bourgeois and Bourdeau said the merger was beneficial to both credit unions, and not just because of additional locations for their members.

A wider array of products and services are now available to Northern Corridor members.

They include money-market accounts, share certificates of deposit for those under 18 that can start with a minimum deposit of $100 and a payroll-deduction certificate where members who might not have the minimum $500 to open a regular share certificate have the chance to deposit at least $10 each week or every other week to start saving for the future.

"Our philosophy is to promote thrift and the wise use of credit," Bourgeois said. "That is a philosophy of credit unions."

The merger also allowed UFirst to convert to the data-processing system used by Northern Corridor.

"I've worked with this data-processing system since 1976. It's an excellent system," Bourdeau said. "It's very proactive."

Bourgeois said there were some glitches during the merger and conversion.

"The first two weeks were very hectic with a high level of phone and lobby volume. Our staff has worked diligently to address these issues and we thank all of our membership for their patience," Bourgeois said. "We continue to address problems as they arise and will do our best to bring them to a positive resolution for all of our membership."

E-mail Dan Heath at: dheath@pressrepublican.com