At their 2014 Leadership Conference on June 18th, CU*Answers recognized Pathways Financial CU, in Columbus, Ohio, as the winner of the 4th annual “Spirit of CU*Answers” award, for their innovative use of collaboration and cooperation. Pathways CEO Mike Shafer accepted the award, explaining to the assembled group of nearly 200 credit union leaders how three CUs in central Ohio came together to build a new organization that could to deliver more value, better service, and improved convenience for their members, while still retaining their unique brand identity.
Shafer said that while they aren’t the first credit union to use this branding strategy, “We have done our best to customize the strategy in a way that fits our members, our credit union and our market.” Since the original merger, two additional Ohio credit unions have joined the Pathways family. But mergers don’t necessarily need to be the end game. According to Shafer, the definition of partnership for Pathways is, “being willing to help other credit unions to be successful without an expectation of a future strategic merger possibility.”
The Spirit of CU*Answers award, established in 2011, recognizes a client credit union for excellence in a variety of areas. In addition to the focus on collaboration and cooperation exemplified by this year’s winner, the award also allows the CUSO to recognize credit unions who have strong volunteer programs, who’ve demonstrated particularly strong execution and performance or a high level of adoption of CU*Answers tools, who have found new ways to demonstrate commitment to the 7 Cooperative Principles, or who’ve started new businesses in the network.