GH Woodworkers, Great Northwest credit unions to merge

Merger reportedly fast-tracked by ‘unusual events’

By Dan Hammock • January 11, 2017 10:00 pm
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GH Woodworkers Federal Credit Union has announced a merger with Great NorthWest Federal Credit Union. The merger, just six weeks in the making, becomes official Feb. 1. GH Woodworkers Federal Credit Union has announced a merger with Great NorthWest Federal Credit Union. The merger, just six weeks in the making, becomes official Feb. 1. The circumstances behind the merger include a federal inquiry and a reported fire at the institution, but no further details were available as of Wednesday evening.
GH Woodworkers Federal Credit Union has announced a merger with Great NorthWest Federal Credit Union. The merger, just six weeks in the making, becomes official Feb. 1. GH Woodworkers Federal Credit Union has announced a merger with Great NorthWest Federal Credit Union. The merger, just six weeks in the making, becomes official Feb. 1. The circumstances behind the merger include a federal inquiry and a reported fire at the institution, but no further details were available as of Wednesday evening.

The board of directors of GH Woodworkers Federal Credit Union and Great NorthWest Federal Credit Union officially announced their merger Tuesday, but news of the merger came late in December with a message to members from GH Woodworkers’ board chairman on the institution’s website.

“With a very heavy heart, I report news of our intention to merge with Great NorthWest FCU,” wrote Woodworkers board chairman Walt Hilliard Dec. 30. “Many of you may have wondered why Penny (Sudderth, interim manager of GH Woodworkers) and I have been in the office since March 2016. There were several unusual events that occurred including an office fire. Federal examiners encouraged the board to place the manager on administrative leave. … To protect our members, the Board decided the only recourse was to merge with another credit union.”

As a result, GH Woodworkers’ board met with three local credit unions, eventually deciding on Great NorthWest. “We are in the midst of working with them to provide a smooth, seamless merger which we hope to accomplish by Feb. 1, 2017,” continued Hilliard. “The current location will remain open for at least three months, maybe longer, depending on circumstances.”

According to Great NorthWest CEO Doug Page, the merger has only been in the works for “about six weeks.” When asked about the circumstances leading to the rapid pace of the merger, Page replied, “I can’t elaborate on that right now.” He added that under the merger the Woodworkers Federal Credit Union name would be absorbed and their branch at 2600 Sumner Ave. in Aberdeen would become a new branch of Great NorthWest FCU after the merger is complete.

Hilliard was unavailable for comment late Wednesday, and inquiries to the Aberdeen Fire Department and Aberdeen Police about the fire Hilliard mentioned were also not immediately answered. A message to the National Credit Union Administration — to which Lyn Peters, Director of Communications for the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions, referred inquiries — asking about the merger was also not immediately answered. The Woodworkers’ branch will close at 3 p.m. Jan. 31 to implement the changeover, wrote Hilliard.

According to the statement officially announcing the merger, members will remain federally insured up to $250,000 through the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund after the completed merger. The combined credit union will serve roughly 14,000 members with assets exceeding $135 Million in Grays Harbor and Pacific counties.

Great NorthWest was chartered in April 1953 as Shafer Mill Employees Credit Union; GH Woodworkers in 1955 to serve the needs of IAM Woodworkers W2 Union members and families. Both institutions have opened membership to a much wider segment of the population in the decades that followed; Great NorthWest’s website states, “If you or a relative lives, works or worships in Grays Harbor or Pacific counties, you are eligible to join.”

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