Bucks County credit union members vote down a proposed merger
Credit Union 1 of suburban Chicago, with $2 billion in assets, wanted to merge with Spirit Financial Credit Union in Levittown.
Members of the 71-year-old Spirit Financial Credit Union in Levittown, Bucks County, voted decisively against their leaders’ plan to merge the $70 million-asset, member-owned lender with $2 billion-asset Credit Union 1 of suburban Chicago.
“We respect the decision our members made through this vote,” David Obarowski, the 3,800-member credit union’s chief executive, said in a statement. He thanked members for voting and commenting on the plan. “There are no plans for another vote on this specific matter. Spirit Financial will continue operating independently.”
Todd Gunderson, Credit Union 1’s CEO, in a statement offered “utmost respect” for “the democratic member voter outcome.”
He said most members voted in advance by mail, adding that a smaller group showed up Monday, engaging with him and Obarowski. He called members “constructive, thoughtful and respectful” and rightly focused on adding younger members since Spirit Financial’s member count has barely risen since the 1990s.
Obarowski declined to provide vote totals. Member Richard Kilian, a building-materials company owner who opposed the merger, said more than 500 of the credit union’s 3,800 members voted, with more than 400 voting no, according to a count he said was made public at the meeting.
It was a rare setback for Credit Union 1, one of a growing number of credit unions with multistate branch networks and more assets than most community banks.
Gunderson said last week that Credit Union 1 had won 12 of 13 merger votes since he took the top job in 2020.
Pages listing benefits from the proposed merger, such as more loan and deposit products and lower travel ATM fees, no longer appear on either credit unions’ website.
Kilian attributed the vote to members’ preference for local control, though he agreed its aging membership needs new energy.
Spirit Financial was started by workers at the former U.S. Steel Fairless Works but is now open to people who live or work in Bucks or are members of Bucks-based churches and other institutions.
Kilian said he hoped Spirit Financial would recruit younger customers and leaders, boost its presence by using more social media and other community engagement, and add staff licensed to write more loans.