BOULDER, Colo.-Acknowledging it had been overly aggressive in forecasting growth, Elevations CU is closing one branch and eliminating 13 positions.
Seven of the jobs will come from its Erie branch that opened in September 2008, and will close Jan. 30, 2010.
The location is being shuttered because it did meet growth expectations, explained Ed Beckmann, AVP of strategic communication and market research.
"In hindsight it was little aggressive to add three branches in one year," said Beckman about Elevations growing to nine locations in 2008. "The other two offices are doing well. But the growth we projected at Erie just never came."
Beckman noted the $929-million Elevations took a different approach when it built the Erie branch in an undeveloped area of the city. "There were plans to build over 5,000 new homes and thousands of square feet of retail space in the area. Due to the economy, the retail locations never happened and not even half of the homes were constructed."
Poor results at the Erie branch, Beckmann shared, will not affect future growth plans. But he said Elevations will more closely scrutinize expansion opportunities in the future.
Overall, in 2009, ECU has performed well, with net member growth at 4.9% and capital at over 8%. Beckmann added that Elevations has signed a lease to expand the square footage of its Table Mesa location.
In addition to closing the branch, Elevations has instituted other cost-savings moves, eliminating a total of 13 positions, seven from the Erie location. "We are setting ourselves up for the future to remain financially strong," Beckmann said.
Elevations made the employee cuts following a third-party evaluation of the CU's operations that showed it was slightly overstaffed. Three positions in marketing were eliminated, two in IT, and one in HR. After the Erie branch closes the credit union will have 223 employees.
