From bus wraps to billboards and radio, the rebranding begins inearnest next Monday for the newly merged $475 million SolarityCredit Union of Yakima, Wash.

Solarity is the product of an in-city merger last year of YakimaValley CU and Catholic CU, both healthy and which competed fordecades five blocks apart before combining “as a merger ofequals.”

“We're excited to make our first big splash in the communityduring February as we now have completed the system integration,”said Mina Worthington, president/CEO.

A marketing campaign complete with wide usage of a new logo willcontinue all during the month, Worthington said.

“We're particularly delighted that the 'Solarity' name hascaught on with the public even before the launch,” she said.

She said she has already heard business leaders and others referto Solarity, abandoning the Yakima/Catholic brands, and “that ispretty cool and seem to bode well for us.”

The “bright and colorful” logo is also appearing on Facebook andsocial media sites, she said, crediting Weber Marketing Group ofSeattle for its work.

Worthington said integration of the two CUs has gone well fromthe start, adding that management of Yakima Valley and Catholichave long emphasized full communication with members aboutwhat was in store.

Asked about the collapse of a merger deal this month involvinganother Washington credit union, the $432 million Horizon CU ofSpokane Valley with the $63 million Montana First CU, Worthingtonsaid the key to any kind of a campaign like that is to ensure “yourfront line people understand the merger and are fully behindit. Your staff has to be 100% supportive so they are preparedand can convey a positive message to members.”

Worthington said she did not realize a merger defeat had even occurred to a credit union from herstate “until I got those alerts” issued by Credit UnionTimes, stressing again such a change in structure “has to be atop of mind issue” within both organizations beingconsolidated.