5 More Forward-Thinking Credit Unions and Partners Find Value in their Own Million-Dollar Research Budget Via MEMBERS Development Co.

 

Collaboration CUSO adds total of 7 new owner credit unions in first half of 2017

 

 

MINNEAPOLIS (July 31, 2017) - MEMBERS Development Company (MDC) welcomes the following new owners during the second quarter of the year: Community America Credit Union in Lenexa, Kan. ($2.4 billion); First Commonwealth Federal Credit Union in Bethlehem, Pa. ($672.37 million); New England Federal Credit Union (NEFCU) in Williston, Vt. ($1.2 billion); TDECU in Lake Jackson, Texas ($2.97 billion); and Y-12 Federal Credit Union in Oak Ridge, Tenn.($1.09 billion). Altogether, MDC has added 7 new owners this year already, and 13 new owners to its rolls in the past 15 months.

 

Jeff Kline, MEMBERS Development Company's Chief Executive Officer, says the CUSO intentionally follows a managed-growth strategy to ensure all owners have direct influence and involvement in the Company's R&D decisions, as well as the execution of various projects - much of which is "hands on."

 

"MDC is unique in the credit union community because we are a fairly small organization, but one that has a 'big voice,' given the strength and size ($118 billion in total) of the credit unions and partner organizations we represent," Kline said. "Owners often cite MDC's focus on collaborative research, collaborative development, and highly interactive semiannual owner meetings as key drivers of our success."

 

Kline says the value of MDC's research model comes from sharing costs among all participants, time savings as owners jointly carry the workload, and the collective wisdom of knowing when to go forward with an initiative and when to let it go. MDC places a great deal of attention on its semiannual Owner Meetings, which, in addition to reporting on the results of various Innovation Council initiatives, offer education and thought leadership from among owners as well as experts outside the industry.

 

Kline says new owners sum up credit union executives' enthusiasm about working with MDC and other owners to create new products and services, as well as solve common problems.

 

"Y-12 Federal Credit Union is excited to join MDC," said Mark Ziegler, President/CE of Y-12 Federal Credit Union. "We recognize the importance of research and development to stay relevant in our industry, and see the value of strength in numbers. We look forward to the opportunity to network and collaborate with other like-minded credit union leaders."

 

"We are excited to be part of such a progressive group of credit unions," said Sue Leonard, Sr. VP/CFO for NEFCU. "We look forward to networking and collaborating on innovative solutions."

 

"Working together to find solutions is a common theme among MDC owners," Kline said. "When owners and our staff look at a new potential project, they ask some basic questions. For example, how does this align with our owners' priorities? How will it help credit unions grow their businesses? How will it generate revenue? This is where owners' collective wisdom is most valuable."

 

The MDC model is clearly paying off because MDC's development efforts over the past 17 years include spawning companies such as MEMBERS Trust Company, Procura, CU BizSource, BrightLeaf and Result 150. It also has enabled many partnerships such as EverFi, which provides member financial education; and Simple Nexus, which offers mortgage processing tools.

 

Learn more about MEMBERS Development Company and its research and development projects at membersdevelopment.com.