Merged credit unions NEFCU and VSECU settle on new name: EastRise

Two Vermont-based credit unions that merged in 2023 have announced a new name for the consolidated company: EastRise Credit Union.

On Jan. 1, 2023, New England Federal Credit Union and the Vermont State Employees Credit Union legally merged to form one entity that serves more than 160,000 members. Until now, the combined cooperative has remained nameless.

“EastRise is the perfect name as we look to a brighter future ahead and build on momentum to provide a sense of belonging to everyone,” CEO John Dwyer said in a press release issued Wednesday.

“‘East’ gives a bit of a nod to our place and our origin … ‘rise’ evokes the promise of a new day,” said Yvonne Garand, chief brand and marketing officer for the merged credit unions.

Some former leaders of the credit unions were less convinced.

Jerry Diamond, the chair of the VSECU board for seven years until 2015 and a former state attorney general, said he was surprised “Vermont” did not appear in the name.

“They assured everybody that they would be sensitive … to the Vermont tie,” he said. The new brand, Diamond continued, “didn’t comport with the representations they made.”

Instead, he said, the name change seems geared toward further out-of-state expansion.

Former VSECU CEO Steve Post said he thought Vermont members will see the name and wonder “what’s that have to do with me?”

He and Diamond both agreed that a rebrand was necessary, and that proper preparatory research was money well spent. But they’re worried the focus is shifting away from Vermonters.

The company already has members in New Hampshire and Michigan, though Garand confirmed that 85% of its base membership is still in Vermont.

The branding decision, she said, was reached after 15 months of research, focus group analysis, and test marketing.

“We knew from member feedback that it was very important for the new name to somehow embrace a sense of place,” Garand said. However, she added, the majority of surveyed members expressed desire for a “more inclusive” brand name.

Art Woolf, the chair of the credit union board, said Vermont’s population is too stagnant to propel the company forward.

“We see Vermont as a limiting market,” Woolf said, adding, “It’s a lot easier to expand in a broader geographic area.”

Garand said part of the challenge was competing with large financial tech companies like Chime and PayPal, while also remaining distinct in the local marketplace.

“There are so many companies in Vermont (that) have Vermont in their name,” she said.

Nonetheless, Garand said, the company is focused on its Vermont communities. She pointed out that the company’s logo will now be a hermit thrush, the Vermont state bird. The new tagline “All the Difference” is inspired by former Vermont poet laureate Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken.”

Kimberly Cheney, a former Vermont attorney general and one-time board chair of VSECU, shares Diamond’s concern about expansion. He’s less worried about the name itself than what its underlying attitude might mean for local communities’ access to governance.

“The merger has removed any member controls that used to exist,” he said. Before the consolidation, he said, board elections had been local and small-scale enough that individuals could feel that they had a voice.

Prior to the merger, VSECU served 70,000 member-owners. Now, the 160,000-strong EastRise is poised to keep building its member base, according to Woolf.

At this point, Cheney said, it would take a “ridiculous number of people” to influence the joint cooperative’s board of directors.

Post also expressed concern about the loss of local influence.

“They were both 75-year-old-plus institutions and had a big presence in Vermont,” he said. “And I think all of that has been lost entirely.”

The company will continue to operate dual brands until mid-September, Garand said, before legally adopting the EastRise name.

Read the story on VTDigger here: Merged credit unions NEFCU and VSECU settle on new name: EastRise .