LENEXA, Kan.-CommunityAmerica CU here has expanded its partnership with the Special Needs Planning Center, bringing the non-profit in-house to better serve families of special needs children in the Kansas City region.
The move came after CACU reached out to the group about partnership opportunities, and as Mike Haggerty, CommunityAmerica's VP of financial planning services, explained, "it just became apparent that, frankly, the mission of the credit union and the mission of their practice aligned almost perfectly."
The principals at the Special Needs Planning Center were already members at the CU, said Haggerty, and knew the credit union well. Moving inside the CU "allowed them in essence to give up the business-owner responsibilities and focus on where their passion is, and that's helping families of children with special needs."
Haggerty explained that the group consists of financial planners working to advise families on topics such as special needs trusts, insurance, Social Security issues, and more. Under the new arrangement, employees of the Special Needs Planning Center are considered dual employees at CommunityAmerica. All CACU financial advisors are credit union employees, but serve as independent contractors licensed through CUSO Financial Services, said Haggerty.
The Special Needs Planning Center will continue to maintain its own office space, but can now also meet with CACU member families at any branch location.
"They're financial planners-but that's not why people seek them out," said Haggerty. "They're sought out for the education component. ...They have and offer all of the typical products a financial planner offers. They are in essence experts, and one of the two of them has (raised a special needs child).They know what resources are available and they know what's necessary for someone who has a child with special needs."
Because the pair both are employees of the CU, there is no cost-sharing involved in the new arrangement. CommunityAmerica will advertise the group in its newsletter, website and other outlets.
A Unique Offering
Haggerty declined to discuss any ROI associated with the move, but indicated that the group's role is not to push any particular CommunityAmerica products or services. But he said that the CU does hope to see some organic level of growth out of this, in part because the new arrangement requires families to be members of the CU if they wish to utilize the Special Needs Planning Center's services.
One factor that may benefit the CU is that CommunityAmerica is the only FI in the region with this kind of dedicated organization. Haggerty noted that Merril Lynch does have some special needs assistance available, but it is a national program without much presence in the Kansas City area.
The new entity will be known as the Special Needs Planning Center at CommunityAmerica Credit Union.
'They've established a terrific brand within the Kansas City area, similar to CommunityAmerica," said Haggerty. "We set out to merge the brands versus reinventing the wheel."
