Lone Tree-based Canvas Credit Union plan merger: Deal marks Canvas expansion to Western Slope - Highlands Ranch Herald

Mark Harden
mharden@coloradocommunitymedia.com

Canvas Credit Union, a Front Range-focused financial company based in Lone Tree, announced Nov. 15 that its planned merger with a Western Slope credit union has been approved by regulators.

Canvas currently has about 30 branches across metro Denver and in the Fort Collins-Greeley-Loveland area, so the merger with Grand Junction-based Western Rockies Federal Credit Union marks an expansion into western Colorado.

Under the deal, Canvas would add more than 40 employees of Western Rockies FCU to its workforce, and Western Rockies FCU’s Grand Junction, Rifle and Fruita branches will remain open, Canvas said in a statement. Western Rockies member accounts will transition to Canvas.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“Canvas also plans to explore opportunities to open more branches along the Western Slope,” the statement said.

Grand Junction-based Western Rockies FCU has $150 million in assets and 14,000 members.

The statement said the combination had been approved by the state of Colorado and the National Credit Union Administration, the industry’s federal regulator.

The deal now faces a Dec. 30 vote by Western Rockies FCU members, with Canvas executives saying they are "optimistic and confident members will be in favor."

“Our team has been dreaming about how we can expand our impact well beyond the Front Range,” Todd Marksberry, Canvas’ CEO and president, said in the statement. “The opportunity to welcome the Western Rockies Federal Credit Union members and team to our Canvas family opens the door to manifest even more positive change for people across Colorado.”

Kristi Porter, Western Rockies FCU’s CEO and president, “will play a crucial role to Canvas’ collaboration with the Western Slope community,” Marksberry said.

Canvas — formerly known as Public Service Credit Union — is metro Denver’s third-largest credit union based on total assets as of Dec. 31, 2020, according to the Denver Business Journal. Canvas says it currently has assets of $3.47 billion and 263,700 members.

It is the descendant of a credit union founded in 1938 to serve employees of Public Service Company of Colorado, now part of Xcel Energy. In recent years it has acquired several other credit unions.

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