Intermountain Credit Union, suffering from dropping income and financial troubles brought on by the mortgage crunch, plans to ask its members next week to authorize a merge with America First Credit Union.
Intermountain, with a main office plus one full-time and one part-time branch, has about 6,900 members. Their vote on the proposed "emergency" merger will be Oct. 28 at the credit union's main office in Salt Lake City.
Intermountain's chief executive officer, Jeff Blackburn, said Monday that the Intermountain board approached America First about a possible merger after troubles arose in Intermountain's construction-loan portfolio.
"We were facing some hits due to the mortgage situation and declines in income, and we talked to them about merging the two credit unions together," he said. "One issue we've always faced is convenience, and we felt that this (merger) was a good situation for our members and would help protect our members."
Intermountain Credit Union began operations in 1954 as Associated Credit Union. The credit union's members were owners, employees, suppliers and their employees, or associated companies and their employees involved in the food industry. In 1999, Utah Associations Credit Union and Associated Credit Union merged to form Intermountain Credit Union. In 2001, Pioneer Credit Union, formerly EIML Credit Union, merged into Intermountain Credit Union.
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