WHAT'S NEW
►News Release - June 28, 2007
Credit Unions’ Members Approve Merger
The members of Tisdale, Gateway (Archerwill) and Cornerstone (Yorkton) Credit Unions have strongly endorsed a merger of the three credit unions into a new regional credit union. The merger will take place on January 1, 2008. "Our boards of directors and staff are very confident in this proposal and are extremely pleased that our members have chosen to support it as well. Our boards of directors, led by Bob Riou (Tisdale), Lester Willerton (Gateway) and Ken Sherwin (Cornerstone), are to be congratulated for their vision for the future" explained Kevin Lukey. Lukey is the current Chief Executive Officer of Cornerstone Credit Union and will be appointed CEO of the new credit union.
Membership voting meetings were hosted by each credit union earlier this week. Members of Gateway Credit Union met first, on Monday evening, with 98% of members voting "yes" to the proposed merger. Tisdale Credit Union’s members met the following evening with a similar outcome – 93% voted in favour. Cornerstone Credit Union’s members met on Wednesday and 98% voted in support of the merger. "Now we begin the real work of bringing our organizations together into one new entity" added Dave Lyster, General Manager of Gateway Credit Union. "Members of our credit unions can expect on-going communication from us in the coming months to ensure everyone knows what is happening and when it’s happening. We will make every effort to make the transition to a new credit union as seamless as possible to our members."
Once the new credit union is formed, it will serve over 25,000 members, manage almost $600 million in member assets, have 13 branches and employ over 160 people. The new credit union has committed to employing all existing staff and to retaining the existing branch network. It will use a distributed leadership model which will retain decision-making and senior leadership positions at the local level, where ever possible. Betty Bauhuis, General Manager of Tisdale Credit Union stated "I’m very proud of the commitment the new organization has made to build upon the strong financial performance, the unique history and the deep commitment to our staff, members and communities that each credit union brings to the table. Over time, we plan to expand and enhance the services we offer to our members. Being part of a larger entity offers geographic, economic and demographic diversity which means greater capacity to do things we haven’t been able to do before. This is a very exciting time for our credit unions."
For more information, please contact:
Kevin Lukey, Chief Executive Officer, Cornerstone Credit Union – (306) 786-2222
Dave Lyster, General Manager, Gateway Credit Union – (306) 323-2115
Betty Bauhuis, General Manager, Tisdale Credit Union – (306) 873-2616
►Cornerstone Credit Union Makes $10,000 Donation
On Friday, February 2, 2007, Cornerstone Credit Union and the Theodore Rec Board made an exciting announcement that the credit union was donating $10,000 to help replace the roof on the curling rink. Corvyn Neufeld from Cornerstone Credit Union made the announcement at a program at the Complex Hall on Friday afternoon. Carla Madsen MC’d the event, Karl Kuchinski replied on behalf of the Recreation Association and Don Thompson replied on behalf of the Curling Committee. Students from the
Neufeld explained that in the fall of 2006, the Credit Union introduced Project Cornerstone – a pool of funds available for community groups to apply to. This was a brand new initiative and the credit union was very pleased with the response from groups and organizations from all of the communities served by Cornerstone Credit Union. A total of 32 applications for funding were received. With the help of a committee, the Credit Union selected the Theodore Rec Board application. The committee will receive $10,000 once work begins on the project. In Neufeld’s final comments he stated that Cornerstone Credit Union was proud to be part of the community of Theodore and to have played a role in maintaining a great community facility.
