The LaHave River Credit Union in Bridgewater, NS. Photo: LaHave River Credit Union.

The LaHave River Credit Union (LRCU) is in the process of undergoing a merger with East Coast Credit Union, and the board and staff are hopeful it will go through.

LRCU Board Chair John Visser says the credit union decided to seek potential merger candidates after they struggled to find a replacement CEO, “We needed someone to help with the management and operations, and we did end up making offer that weren’t accepted, so at that point we began looking for larger credit unions who could help us with those types of things,”

East Coast was one of two potential candidates identified by the LRCU board, and they offered them the opportunity to trial their management over the past year, so they could judge how the two entities work together.

“The board and the staff have been overwhelmingly impressed by East Coast so far, it gives our staff more resources, through training, or making sure they get vacation time and that’s before we even consider the benefits to clients,” said Visser.

He expects that approval of the merger would result in lower bank fees and higher rates of return.

Visser says a larger firm like East Coast is also better equipped to help LRCU navigate the resources in a fast-growing community like Bridgewater. “Technology and banking are changing and while we’ve always strived to adapt having someone larger like East Coast will help us do so even faster to make sure we can provide what clients want and need,”.

The decision to go through with the merger lies with the LRCU clients who will be able to vote on the matter between September 18 and 28, in order to get approved it will require at least 66 percent support.