SEATTLE — Despite the economy, credit unions should investigate expanding their branch networks if it will help their bottom lines in the long run.
That is the message from Greg Barrett and Steve Anderson, who will lead a session titled, "Winning The Growth Game: Accelerating Growth and Winning Market Share in Highly Competitive Markets," at Credit Union Journal's upcoming Grow Show April 27-29.
Barrett is vice president of client services for Momentum, a design/build firm that specializes in financial institutions, primarily CUs. He has 15 years of experience working with financial institutions and a proven track record of executing leading edge marketing plans
"We work at the strategic level, formulating occupancy studies to maximize growth potential," Barrett explained. "I am co-speaking with Steve Anderson, who will be talking about HAPO Community CU's story. HCCU was looking at capital issues, so it conducted a study of its branches and service capacity. The decision, ultimately, was to invest in branching."
Anderson, who is the credit union's EVP and COO, acknowledged there is a degree of risk involved in implementing an expansion strategy during a recession, but he said the question needs to be investigated by CUs.
"To branch or not to branch, that is the question," he began. "Particularly in the world today, that is a tough call. Do you hunker down and wait and see before making an investment? Or do you be a pioneer and keep going out there? There is some risk, and there is not a lot of margin for error. If there are mistakes along the way they must be identified quickly.
"It is one thing to say, 'We want to branch,' and it is another thing to open the door," Anderson added. "The process must be well-managed every step of the way."
HAPO Community CU is headquartered in Richland, Wash. According to Barrett, "HAPO is in a highly competitive market, and the [Grow Show] audience will relate to the decisions the credit union was facing. The strategy requires a sound relationship with the board because of the dedication and commitment needed to go down that road as the initial impression will be of being on thin ice. But with a good plan, it won't be guesswork as far as picking the right spot to build a profit-center."
Agreed Anderson: "The biggest takeaway for people who come to our session will be the management of the process and the execution."
"Any credit union that is contemplating a desire to grow versus the gloom and doom out in the world today should attend," Anderson asserted. "We went through that-the world is collapsing around us and here we are building branches. We are even looking at three additional branches in the near future, depending on the contribution we might have to pay out to the corporate rescue plan. It might be a four-year plan instead of a two-year plan, but we are moving ahead."
