Watertown's Northern Credit Union plans merger with East Syracuse institution

Jun. 22—WATERTOWN — Northern Credit Union and Countryside Federal Credit Union announced an anticipated merger Wednesday.

This partnership will provide 10 locations in Northern and Central New York. Northern is based in Watertown, while Countryside is based in East Syracuse.

The merger will be finalized in the fall following an anticipated positive vote by members of Countryside FCU on Aug. 1, the institutions said in a joint statement.

"Our goal is to put our members first in all that we do, and this is a great example of how we're continuing this mission," Ben Gasser, CEO of Countryside FCU, said in the statement. "This merger partnership will secure our long-term viability for our membership."

Dan St. Hilaire, Northern Credit Union's president and CEO, said the mission at Northern is to improve the financial lives of those they serve through empowerment and personalized solutions.

"When two healthy credit unions such as Northern and Countryside unite, it strengthens our ability to thrive and deliver better financial solutions to our member-owners," Mr. St. Hilaire said in the statement.

As part of the transition, Countryside will convert to a state-chartered credit union. The Countryside name will be preserved as a division of Northern Credit Union.