ATHENS, Penn.-The namesake company of Ingersoll-Rand FCU recently announced it would shutter its location here and consolidate operations in North Carolina by the end of the year.
Though many expected the plant to close at some point in the future, the move came earlier than most anticipated. Now the $55 million in institution is tasked with helping members that will soon be out of a job while moving the CU forward by building on recent acquisitions and a reasonably strong 2009.
Credit Union Journal: The plant closure was referred to as a "surprise" for coming this early. When did you folks expect it to be shuttered?
Michael Viselli: Based upon the last two to three year history of employment changes and events at the plant, the shutdown was expected by credit union management more than a turn-around. Rumors that the manufacturing facility was too large for their current and future needs (it was also their oldest facility) made sense to credit union management, and the workforce has been reduced considerably in the last few years. It did not come as a surprise to our credit union, but we were hoping that efforts to keep the facility alive would work. The timing of the announcement came as a surprise to the community, as the company has been recently calling back some workers, and output was increased with overtime hours being asked for by the plant management. In retrospect, the ramp-up of production was not to fill new orders, but for in-house inventory building purposes.
CUJ: How many CU members are affected and will any current plant employees be offered work in the NC facility as far as you know?
Viselli: Approximately 120 members were affected by the plant closure. At this time, we have not heard of any "hard" offers of employment of affected workers at other Ingersoll-Rand facilities.
CUJ: How has your CU remained strong in the face of a tough economy and increased layoffs in the region?
Viselli: Our credit union has remained strong in the recession due to growth and stability initiatives that were implemented before the economic downturn, and were reemphasized and "retooled" based upon the real and anticipated effects of the recession. Our credit union was profitable in 2009, and we also experienced a growth in assets and deposits. Loan delinquency continued to improve even in the midst of the recession, and sits at very low level of 0.4% for February 2009. We also continue to be a very well capitalized credit union.
CUJ: Any thought to a name change now that your namesake SEG is moving out of the area?
Viselli: Prior to the plant closure announcement, we had considered a name change for the credit union, so that the new name would be more representative of our credit union's diverse membership base. Having acquired BCE (Bradford County Educator's) FCU in a friendly merger in 2008, we knew that we had opportunity to more accurately reflect the current and future face of the membership. We are now actively pursuing a name change that meets these needs.
