Mountain America Federal Credit Union has acquired a credit union serving an Army base inthe Utah desert the size of Rhode Island with a membership the sizeof a battalion.

Mountain America FCU of Salt Lake City ($7.1 billion in assets,722,100 members) announced Friday it had acquired Dugway FCU ($2.9million in assets, 637 members), located at the U.S. Army's DugwayProving Ground, an Army base covering 1,252 square miles of theGreat Salt Lake Desert about 80 miles southwest of Salt LakeCity.

Dugway FCU was founded in 1959, and was open to members of themilitary and employees at the base. Its members approved the mergereffective April 1. Dugway FCU closed its branches March 30, leavingmembers about 50 miles from their closest Mountain America branchin Tooele.

“We are happy to welcome the Dugway Federal Credit Union familyas the newest members to Mountain America Credit Union and lookforward to continuing the Dugway Federal Credit Union tradition ofproviding quality service,” said Sterling Nielsen, president/CEO ofMountain America. “This merger gives Dugway Federal Credit Unionmembers access to a vast branch network and a multitude ofadditional products and services.”

The Census Bureau counted 795 people in the Dugway crossroads in2010, down from 2,016 in 2000.

Dugway FCU's membership has dwindled 10% over the past two yearsand its loan delinquency rate rose from 2.69% at the end of 2016 to6.84% at the end of 2017. After earning nearly $4,956 in 2015 and$4,293 in 2016, Dugway FCU had a net loss of $8,569 in 2017. As aresult, its return on average assets fell from 0.13% in 2016 to-0.28% last year.

Mountain America's ROA was 1.43% in 2017, up 3 basis points asnet income rose 21% to $94.1 million. Average ROA for all creditunions was 0.78% last year.

Membership in Mountain America has risen 28% in the past twoyears, with a net gain of 156,295 members. Its field of membershipincludes all residents of Salt Lake and Duchesne counties andseveral other communities in the area. Group affiliations includeL-3 Communications, Dominion Energy, Novell, State of Utah, Smith'sFood and Drug, Salt Lake County, members of PTAs nationwide, andmore than 3,800 other companies and associations.

The Army opened the Dugway Proving Ground in 1942 to testchemical and biological weapons. It continues to be used forweapons testing and Special Forces training.