The Board of Directors of Cornerstone, Horizon and Plainsview Credit Unions have unanimously approved the business case to proceed with a merger to partner together as a single credit union to drive benefits for members, employees and communities.
As part of the business case due diligence, the Boards announced the new credit union will operate as Cornerstone Credit Union and will be under the leadership of Chief Executive Officer, Doug Jones. Doug is currently the CEO of Cornerstone Credit Union. The inaugural Board Chair will come from either Horizon or Plainsview Credit Union and will be selected during a meeting of the inaugural Board at a future date.
Cornerstone Credit Union currently has branches at Archerwill, Ituna, Kelliher, Rose Valley, Saltcoats, Theodore, Tisdale, Wynyard, and Yorkton.
Horizon Credit Union currently serves communities around the Qu’appelle Valley at: Melville, Grayson, Grenfell, Neudorf and Wolseley.
Plainsview Credit Union currently offers services to members from nine physical branch location; Arcola, Kipling, Glenavon, Montmartre, Odessa, Vibank, Indian Head, Govan and Emerald Park.
The new credit union will become the fourth largest in Saskatchewan with approximately $1.72 billion in assets, serving over 35,000 members in 23 communities throughout east-central Saskatchewan and will employ approximately 285 people.
The shared future vision of the three credit union partners is a new credit union that is operationally competitive and differentiated through its commitment to member wellbeing via trusted advice and service as well as concern for community. This new credit union will be more sustainable and better able to leverage opportunities and manage risks in the ever-changing financial services market.
The new credit union will present benefits to all stakeholders: members, employees and communities. Over time, the goal is for members to benefit through greater access and convenience, better advice, products and services along with improved technology. Employees will benefit from having a broader network, expanded career opportunities and improved work experience through increased effectiveness and better technology. This opportunity will help ensure we can continue to support communities whether financially, as volunteers or with effective ways to provide advice and service into the future.
Each partnering credit union will now begin a formal consultation process with members to provide an opportunity for members to learn more about the benefits of the proposed new credit union.
The final stage of approval will be a vote by members of each participating credit union to approve a resolution recommended to them by their Board of Directors. The merger vote will be an online vote during the week of June 15 – 19. Members who may not have online access will be given options to ensure they are able to cast their vote. If approved, the new credit union will be launched in January 2021
