Credit unions consider merger.

Byline: Edward Russo The Register-Guard

A marriage is not certain but executives at Eugene-based Oregon Community Credit Union on Monday announced they are thinking of merging with Portland Teachers Credit Union, the state's largest credit union.

Oregon Community - formerly U-Lane-O - and Portland Teachers have hired a consulting firm to help them decide if combining their institutions makes sense, said Gordon Hoerauf, Oregon Community's chief executive.

It might take the credit unions three to five months, or longer, to decide, Hoerauf said.

A myriad of details need to be worked out, including what would happen to employees and executives with similar jobs, and the name of the resulting institution.

But if the merger occurs, it would create a huge credit union. The merged institution would have 227,000 members and 17 branches, mostly in the Portland area and Eugene. With $2.1 billion in assets, it would be by far the largest credit union in the state, and bigger than many Oregon banks.

U-Lane-O already had customers outside Lane County because its field of membership included state employees and the University of Oregon - students, graduates, employees and their relatives.

However, U-Lane-O had trouble attracting UO graduates living in Portland.

In March, U-Lane-O changed its name and charter, the latter in order to expand its field of membership so it could make loans and accept deposits from anyone who lives or works in most of the Willamette Valley, including the Portland area.

The merger idea is a sign of how keenly Oregon Community executives want to attract Portland customers, and to better serve the customers they have in that metro area.

Until now, Oregon Community has served Portland customers through automatic teller machines, phone banking and the Internet, with plans to build branches in Portland someday.

But CEO Hoerauf said branches are expensive and would take several years to open. In a merger with Portland Teachers Credit Union, present and potential Oregon Community members in the Portland area would get immediate access to Portland Teachers' 10 branches, he said.

"This would catapult us five to 10 years ahead of where we are now," Hoerauf said.

Hoerauf said he and the credit union's board of directors wanted to share the news with the public and employees, partly to stop rumors.

Oregon Community Credit Union has 232 employees, about 120 of them who work in the new corporate headquarters in north Eugene.

Hoerauf said the merger is being considered to better serve members and to try and attract new ones, not to cut expenses by trimming employees.

Some back office jobs would be affected by a merger, Hoerauf said, but no one would be laid off. "It may not be the job they have now, but they definitely will have a job in the (combined) organization," he said.

As outlined under initial talks, Hoerauf said, Portland Teachers would abandon its occupational field of membership charter, leaving it to operate under Oregon Community's more expansive community charter.

Portland Teachers' members would need to vote on the change.

But no vote of Oregon Community Credit Union members would be required.

The merger would need to be approved by state and federal credit union regulators.

Oregon Community Credit Union

Headquarters: Eugene

Members: 78,000

Employees: 232

Branches: 7

Assets: $650.7 million

Field of membership: Anyone who lives or works in 10 Western Oregon counties, from Lane north to Columbia

Portland Teachers Credit Union

Headquarters: Portland

Members: 149,000

Branches: 10

Assets: $1.47 billion

Field of membership: Employees of schools and nonprofit educational groups and their families in Clackamas, Columbia, Multnomah, Washington, and Yamhill counties