Midwest Financial Credit Union acquisition results in layoffs of Ann Arbor staff

By Nathan Bomey Business news director

Posted on Sun, Nov 21, 2010 : 5:59 a.m.

The Dearborn-based credit union that took over Ann Arbor-based Midwest Financial Credit Union in October has laid off between 10 and 15 ex-Midwest employees, sources said.

DFCU Financial, Michigan's largest credit union with more than $3 billion in assets, had indicated that it would not cut any former Midwest Financial employees after the merger.

"We're going to need all those folks," DFCU CEO Mark Shobe told AnnArbor.com in June, adding that "we intend to expand, not contract, in Ann Arbor."

A spokeswoman for DFCU declined to discuss personnel changes that resulted because of the merger. Midwest had about 70 employees when DFCU acquired the credit union.

"We don't comment on employment issues and some restructuring is common when a merger occurs," said Kim Ward, DFCU's public relations director, in an e-mail.

Layoffs occurred among Midwest's executive leadership and its private banking unit. Some workers were offered demotions and others took severance packages, sources said. It was unclear how many Midwest employees chose to stay with the company but with different positions.

DFCU said last month that it had 530 employees and more than 219,000 members. MidWest had 18,000 members and four branches.

DFCU is maintaining Midwest's branches and did not conduct layoffs among bank staff who interact with customers.

The merger was viewed as an opportunity for DFCU to expand its membership base into the Ann Arbor market.

Ward, in an e-mail Friday, said DFCU is poised to announce "some exciting developments on the horizon for members and the community early next year."

Contact AnnArbor.com's Nathan Bomey at (734) 623-2587 or nathanbomey@annarbor.com. You can also follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's newsletters.