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Small Credit Unions, Big Business

By Kenneth E Leonard, MBA

CEO & Co-Founder
Element 22 Commercial Group

How the Multi-Investor CUSO Model Is Democratizing Commercial Lending for Credit Unions of Every Size

Let me tell you about a phone call I love getting.

It goes something like this: “Kenny, we’ve got members who are small business owners. They’re the backbone of our community—they create jobs, reinvest locally, and they’ve banked with us for years. We want to support them with commercial lending, but we don’t have the internal resources or the staff to do it on our own. What can we do?”

That’s my favorite kind of call—because the answer used to be “not much.” And now it’s “let’s get to work.”

That’s exactly what happened with one of our partner credit unions. Like many credit unions, they saw a moment of opportunity: larger banks were pulling back from small business lending, and their members—local entrepreneurs, family-owned shops, small manufacturers—needed a lender who understood their community. The Credit Union didn’t have a full commercial lending team in-house, but they had something just as powerful: a willingness to partner. They teamed up with Element 22 Commercial Group to expand their commercial lending capabilities without compromising control, compliance, or member service. The loan need was larger than what the credit union could handle, so Element 22 facilitated a participation with another credit union to get the loan done for the member borrower. The result? Small businesses in their communities got access to the capital they needed, and the Credit Union proved that you don’t have to be a billion-dollar institution to deliver big results for your members.

That story isn’t unique. It’s playing out across the country. The thing that changed wasn’t a new regulation or a technology breakthrough—it was a shift in mindset. Credit unions are realizing they don’t have to build everything themselves to deliver everything their members need. The multi-investor CUSO model has turned “too small to compete” into “just right to collaborate.” And honestly, it’s one of the most exciting things happening in our industry right now.

Right Place, Right Time, Right Model

Here’s what makes this moment so interesting. Commercial lending across credit unions grew more than 35% between the third quarters of 2024 and 2025, according to Callahan & Associates. That’s not a typo—thirty-five percent. Meanwhile, banks are quietly stepping back from commercial real estate and small business lending. Regulatory pressure, post-COVID jitters about office vacancies, tighter CRE concentration limits—whatever the reason, banks are leaving a gap. And in communities across America, someone needs to fill it.

Enter credit unions. We were literally built for this. We know our communities. We know our members’ businesses because we see them at the grocery store, at the school board meeting, at the local chamber lunch. That relational advantage is real and it’s powerful.

But let’s be honest about the challenge, too. The NCUA has rightly pointed out that commercial lending isn’t appropriate for every credit union to do on its own. The expertise required—specialized underwriting, NCUA Part 723 compliance, construction loan administration, portfolio risk management—is significant. For credit unions under $500 million in assets, hiring a full commercial lending team is like buying a fishing boat to catch one fish.

So how do we square the circle? How do smaller credit unions seize this generational opportunity without overextending?

Two words: shared infrastructure.

Ten Credit Unions Walk Into a CUSO…

I know, it sounds like the start of a joke. But stick with me, because what happens next is actually pretty remarkable.

When multiple credit unions invest in a single commercial lending CUSO, they’re not just splitting costs—though the economics are certainly attractive. They’re building something together that none of them could build alone: a deep bench of experienced commercial lenders, a battle-tested compliance infrastructure, a diversified loan portfolio, and a shared platform for managing risk. Each credit union brings its members and its capital. The CUSO brings the expertise and the engine.

Think of it like a golf scramble team. (Yes, I’m a golfer—bear with me.) No single person on your team can carry every hole. But when you put the right combination of players together, you cover each other’s weaknesses, and you compete at a level none of you could reach solo. That’s the multi-investor CUSO. Credit unions bring their best to each hole and win together.

At Element 22 Commercial Group, we’ve lived this story. We transitioned to a CUSO structure in 2018 with ten credit union investors. We now have over 100 credit unions in 24 states. Our portfolio has grown from $23 million to over $143 million, and in 2025 we did about $200 million in underwriting, loan documentation, participations, and more. But the number I’m most proud of isn’t the dollar figure—it’s the number of communities where a small business owner got to say “yes” because their credit union had the backing to say “yes” first.

This model also solves one of our industry’s trickiest problems: talent. Great commercial lenders don’t grow on trees, and they’re expensive. A $200 million credit union can’t justify a full-time commercial lending team for a handful of deals a year. But a CUSO serving over 100 credit unions? Now you’ve got the deal flow to attract top talent, and that talent brings experience across multiple industries, geographies, and deal structures. Everybody levels up.

Your Member. Your Relationship. Full Stop.

I want to tackle a concern I hear all the time: “If we partner with a CUSO, are we giving up the member relationship?”

Short answer: absolutely not. Just ask the Credit Union in the example I used in my opening. Their members’ experience is seamless. The loan originates through their credit union. Their trusted relationship manager is still their point of contact. The CUSO provides the underwriting muscle, the compliance framework, and the portfolio management behind the scenes. The member doesn’t see the plumbing—they just know their credit union came through for them.

And that matters enormously in 2026. Small businesses don’t want to be just an account number at a regional bank. They want a lender who knows their name, their business, and their town. Credit unions were made for this. The CUSO model just gives them the horsepower to deliver.

Three Reasons I’m Optimistic About What’s Next

AI is becoming the great equalizer. Nearly two-thirds of credit unions now plan to leverage AI for credit decisioning. When AI-powered underwriting and real-time portfolio monitoring tools sit inside a CUSO serving multiple institutions, the cost per credit union drops while the sophistication skyrockets. Smaller credit unions get access to the same analytical firepower that the big banks spend millions to build. That’s not the future—that’s next Tuesday.

The regulatory environment is maturing in our favor. NCUA’s guidance increasingly recognizes that CUSOs help credit unions access expertise they couldn’t build independently. As commercial lending within the credit union space continues to mature, I expect the regulatory framework will evolve to further enable—not restrict—responsible, CUSO-driven growth. The conversation is shifting from “should credit unions do commercial lending?” to “how can we help them do it well?” That’s a much better question.

The next generation of leaders gets it. The emerging leaders in our industry grew up in a world of shared platforms, collaborative ecosystems, and open APIs. They don’t see partnership as a concession—they see it as a strategy. This generation will accelerate the CUSO model not because they have to, but because they intuitively understand the leverage it creates. And frankly, they’re going to do things with this model that people like me haven’t even imagined yet.

The Invitation

I want to be clear about something: this isn’t a sales pitch for Element 22. This is a love letter to the model itself—because I believe the multi-investor CUSO is the single most powerful tool credit unions have to compete, grow, and stay true to their mission at the same time.

The Credit Union in the opening example didn’t wait until they had a fully staffed commercial lending department. They found the right partner, kept their members at the center, and proved something important to their board, their staff, and their community: being small doesn’t mean being limited. It means being nimble enough to find the right partners and brave enough to say yes.

In the credit union movement, we love the phrase “people helping people.” The multi-investor CUSO is simply the next chapter of that story: credit unions helping credit unions, so they can better serve the people who trust them most.

The window is open. The model works. And if you’re a credit union leader reading this and thinking, “That sounds like us”—good. It was written for you.

Let’s get to work.

Sources

1. Callahan & Associates. Commercial lending across the credit union industry grew more than 35% between Q3 2024 and Q3 2025. As cited in CreditUnions.com, “The 2026 Credit Union Balance Sheet Preview,” January 5, 2026.

2. S&P Global Market Intelligence. “Credit Unions’ Commercial Lending Foray Riddled with Risks, Rewards,” October 20, 2025.

3. America’s Credit Unions. Economic Update on AI’s Impact on the Economy: approximately two-thirds of credit unions plan to leverage AI for credit decisioning. As cited in EasCorp, “Trust, Tech, and Member Value: Credit Union Trends for 2026,” December 17, 2025.

4. Leonard, K. & North Central Area Credit Union. “Expanding Small Business Lending Through Strategic Partnership,” LinkedIn / Element 22 Commercial Group, January 20, 2026.

5. CUInsight. “Element 22 Commercial Group Announces Strategic Partnership,” October 4, 2024.

6. TruStage / CUNA Mutual Group. Credit Union Trends Report, 2025–2026.7. West Monroe. 2026 Financial Services Industry Outlook.

To learn more or connect with Element 22 Commercial Group, please visit their website at https://www.element22cg.com/.

About the Author: 

Kenneth E Leonard, MBA
CEO & Co-Founder
Element 22 Commercial Group

Kenneth E. Leonard, MBA is the CEO & Co-Founder of Element 22 Commercial Group, a Credit Union Service Organization (CUSO) providing member business lending and commercial loan services to credit unions across Michigan and nationally. With over 20 years of commercial banking experience, Kenny founded Element 22 in 2017 and led its transition to a multi-investor CUSO in 2018. He is a former Greater Southwest Chapter Chair for the Michigan Credit Union League, former Board Alternate on the Michigan Credit Union League Board and is Board President of Kalamazoo Valley Habitat for Humanity. Kenny can be reached at kleonard@element22cg.com.

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Preserving the Soul of Fintech: Why Extreme Decentralization Matters

3D render abstract digital visualization depicting neural networks and AI technology_EFTG

By David Dean

Head of M&A
Evergreen Financial Technology Group

I was recently speaking with a fintech founder about why my team at Evergreen Financial Technology Group (EFTG) is so emphatic about a philosophy we call extreme decentralization. As we talked, it occurred to me that we could do a better job of publicly articulating what decentralization really means and why we believe it matters so deeply, particularly for CUSOs and fintech businesses serving credit unions.

What Is Decentralization?

In a decentralized operating model, most decisions are made by operating companies rather than by corporate headquarters. A highly decentralized organization is characterized by dozens—or even hundreds—of separate offices and brands, empowered CEOs who manage their own profit and loss statements (P&Ls), and a razor-thin corporate team. Most decisions that affect employees or customers are made at the operating company level, without corporate involvement.

A centralized company, by contrast, is defined by a robust corporate team with highly empowered functional leaders. Local offices operate at the direction of corporate, following strict brand guidelines and standard operating procedures. Decisions that fall outside those procedures typically require approval from headquarters.

EFTG’s Operating Model

EFTG’s model is simple. We are on a mission to be the best home for mission critical fintech businesses and their leaders. To achieve that mission, we are deeply committed to two things: creating a permanent home for these businesses that’s optimized for long term, sustainable success and empowering leaders through a decentralized operating model.

For founders and business owners, this means EFTG aims to be the best acquisition partner to care for your employees, customers, and brand; especially important in CUSOs, where trust and continuity matter deeply to credit unions and their members.

For leaders, it means EFTG is a partner in your entrepreneurial operating experience. We offer a level of empowerment that’s difficult to find in traditional corporate or private equity environments, alongside a business system designed to drive market-leading growth.

Extreme decentralization is central to our value proposition. It enables us to preserve the soul of the companies we acquire while empowering leaders to fully live into their potential as entrepreneurs.

The Advantages of Decentralization

We believe decentralization leads to higher growth and stronger long-term returns on capital for several reasons:

  1. The best people want to be empowered.

The most talented operating leaders want to be entrepreneurial CEOs with meaningful decision-making authority and aligned incentives—not branch managers executing someone else’s plan. Our view is simple: the best and most energized teams win, and those teams thrive in empowered environments.

  1. It’s easier to grow smaller P&Ls.

Growing a $5 million business by 20% requires adding $1 million in revenue. Growing a $100 million business by 20% requires adding $20 million. Percentage growth rates naturally decelerate as companies scale. Our solution is to keep P&Ls as small as practical and growth rates as high as possible.

  1. Business owners prefer decentralization.

Founders generally prefer selling to acquirers who retain their brand and provide continuity for employees and customers. While we continuously improve the businesses we acquire, we don’t disrupt them the way centralized acquirers often do. In fact, every business owner who has partnered with EFTG cites our decentralized model as a key factor in their decision.

  1. Accountability is crystal clear.

In a decentralized structure, each operating CEO has a straightforward scorecard: their P&L and KPIs. If growth stalls or margins slip, responsibility is clear. Decentralization doesn’t mean unconditional empowerment. Empowerment is earned through performance and can be lost when results falter. Centralized organizations often suffer from murky accountability, where functional leaders blame local teams and local teams point back to corporate.

  1. Bureaucracy is minimized, margins are maximized.

Large corporate teams inevitably introduce bureaucracy: approval processes, reporting requirements, meetings, mandates, and policies. As corporate structures grow, coordination costs and organizational friction rise, slowing operating companies and dragging on margins. Leading decentralized organizations often operate at significantly higher margins than centralized peers, even though they duplicate certain roles locally. Simply put, bureaucracy is more expensive than local autonomy.

Decentralization as a Catalyst for Innovation

When people think about disruptive innovation, they often picture a small startup working out of a garage, not a large organization with hundreds of employees.

That intuition is right.

Innovation thrives in environments that reward speed, ownership, and experimentation. It struggles in bureaucratic structures where ideas must climb ladders of approval before they can reach customers.

This is one of the most powerful, and often overlooked, benefits of extreme decentralization.

At EFTG, our operating companies function like independent startups. They move quickly, stay close to customers, and make decisions locally. They are not constrained by centralized product roadmaps or corporate committees.

At the same time, unlike early-stage startups, our companies have already emerged from the garage. They’ve achieved product-market fit. They serve established credit unions and community banks. They’ve built trusted brands, durable customer relationships, and strong internal cultures.

That combination, startup agility paired with real-world scale, creates a uniquely fertile environment for innovation.

Nowhere is that more evident than in how our businesses are approaching artificial intelligence.

Our companies are already embedded deeply in the workflows of credit unions and community banks. They understand operational realities, regulatory expectations, and member experience. Many serve as trusted technology advisors to their customers, helping institutions adopt new tools thoughtfully rather than reactively.

That positions them not just to experiment with AI, but to deploy it responsibly – both internally to improve service delivery and externally to help financial institutions solve real business problems.

In 2025 alone, we saw meaningful progress across our portfolio as teams began using AI to enhance customer support, streamline operations, improve analytics, and accelerate product development. But what excites us most is what comes next.

We believe 2026 will mark a step change.

Not because of a single breakthrough product, but because of the collective impact of dozens of empowered companies innovating in parallel.

In a decentralized model, innovation doesn’t come from one centralized lab. It comes from the edges: from engineers, product managers, customer success teams, and operators who wake up every day thinking about how to better serve their clients. Multiply that by a growing collection of mission aligned businesses, each deeply connected to the credit unions and community banks they serve, and you begin to see the scale of what’s possible.

This is why decentralization matters so much in fintech.

It allows innovation to emerge organically from real customer needs. It preserves accountability. It accelerates learning. And it ensures that new technologies, especially powerful ones like AI, are shaped by practitioners who understand the communities they serve.

For credit unions and CUSOs, this distinction is critical. The future of financial services won’t be built solely by centralized platforms chasing scale. It will be built by trusted partners who combine technical capability with deep industry context and who are empowered to act locally, quickly, and responsibly.

Measuring Decentralization

One way to measure decentralization is by comparing the size of the corporate team to the total number of employees.

Will Thorndike, author of The Outsiders, describes this as the ratio of total employees to corporate employees; a clear indicator of where decisions are being made and how much bureaucracy exists. In centralized organizations, this ratio might be under 25:1. Highly decentralized companies will have a ratio of 100:1 or higher. Hall of fame decentralized companies like Constellation Software and Berkshire Hathaway operate well in excess of 100:1 (Berkshire operates at ~15,000:1).

When Centralization Makes Sense

There are situations where centralization works well:

  • Uniform products or services. if a company is selling a small handful of products or services that are uniform in nature, centralization is a better structure. It makes sense that Apple designs iPhones and AirPods at corporate instead of delegating product decisions to its retail stores.
  • Winner-take-most markets. in a winner-take-most market like a social network, a credit card network or a ratings agency it makes sense to take maximum advantage of scale by centralizing. These markets also tend to be characterized by a uniform product or service.
  • Certain low-cost producers. there are certain low-cost producers that benefit from a centralized structure. Walmart relies on a strong centralized purchasing function, though they empower their local store operators with certain decision rights.

Fintech serving credit unions typically doesn’t fit these categories. Credit unions often depend on customer support, regulatory nuance, high-level security, vertical expertise, and continuity of service. Centralization in this context often leads to employee churn, slower innovation, and weaker client relationships.

What’s at Stake

What’s ultimately at stake is the culture of fintech businesses and the quality of service delivered to credit unions and their members.

A decentralized operating model preserves that culture. It fosters innovation, growth, and continuous improvement. That’s why decentralization sits at the core of EFTG’s mission to be the best home for businesses and their leaders.

We pursue this work with tremendous energy because every company we acquire represents an opportunity to preserve autonomy, empower teams, and support the long-term success of fintech partners serving cooperative financial institutions and their communities.

This article was inspired in part by EFTG board member Jeff Totten’s post, “Why We Believe in Extreme Decentralization.”

To learn more or connect with Evergreen Financial Technology Group, please visit their website at https://evergreenftg.com/.

About the Author: 

David Dean
Head of M&A
Evergreen Financial Technology Group

David Dean is a seasoned fintech executive and strategic leader in mergers & acquisitions, specializing in founder-led software businesses serving credit unions and community banks. As Head of M&A at Evergreen Financial Technology Group (EFTG), he leads sourcing, development, and execution of acquisitions that align with EFTG’s long-term, buy-and-hold investment philosophy.

Before joining EFTG, David served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Investment Officer at CUSG, where he oversaw corporate development, strategic partnerships, and portfolio company growth. His career reflects more than a decade of experience driving sustainable value creation across fintech, SaaS, and media, guided by a disciplined and collaborative investment approach.

A California native and graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia, David now lives near Detroit, Michigan, with his family.

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The Perfect Credit Union Investment

By Guy Messick
Advisor
NACUSO Business Services

In collaboration with Mitchell Amsler
CEO
Capital Management

NACUSO is always searching for ways collaboration can help credit unions manage the issues facing them… issues such as how does a credit union earn sufficient income from its excess cash to grow and remain competitive? Through the use of CUSOs, CU Capital Management (CUCM) has transformed the sale/leaseback model to enable credit unions to retain all the profits within the credit union industry. Instead of private funds purchasing real estate from credit unions and reaping the financial rewards of a stream of lease payments, CUSOs are the purchasers. The credit unions that fund these purchases receive the profits.

Business Model

Credit unions invest in a Funding CUSO. The Funding CUSO invests in Property Owning CUSOs that purchase real estate (headquarter buildings, operation centers and branch networks) from credit unions. There is one Property Owning CUSO per purchase transaction. If it is a large purchase, the Property Owning CUSO uses debt to finance some of the purchase price. The loans typically have conservative loan-to-value ratios, i.e. 50% to 60%. The Property Owning CUSOs lease the real property back to the selling credit union on a long-term basis. The revenue from the leases flows back to the Funding CUSO and the credit union investors.

The minimum investment in the Funding CUSO is $1 million. There is no maximum. When a credit union invests in the Funding CUSO, the credit union is immediately earning revenue from the existing portfolio. As new properties are purchased, the credit unions are given an opportunity to invest more. Even if a credit union does not invest more, the credit union will continue to benefit from the revenue generated from the entire portfolio.

The Investment Provides Industry Leading Returns

Earns Returns in Excess of Other Permissible Investments

CUCM does not take a fee unless the annualized returns to the credit union investors is at least 5%. The current annualized returns are over 6%. As the rents increase each year, the revenue generated will also increase. All the leases are triple net with the credit union tenant assuming all maintenance and repair obligations, including repairs to the building structure. The lessor can step in and make repairs if the credit union tenant does not do so, at the tenant’s cost. This arrangement enables the credit union tenants to continue to have control over their building and enables the investors to enjoy returns not reduced by building maintenance expenses.   

Returns Are Not Tied to Market Fluctuations

The federal interest rates will increase and decrease over time. The revenue from the CUSO is locked in by contract and does not fluctuate based on the general interest climate. In a low interest rate environment, the return on this investment becomes even more attractive than other investment options tied to the market. As market rates decline, the interest paid on loans associated with the purchases of real estate will be lowered, resulting in higher investment yields.

Returns Are Paid Quarterly

Partial investment returns are paid quarterly. After the accounting for the subject year is complete by the first quarter of the following year, the balance of the annual return is paid.

No Legal Restrictions on the Amount of Revenue That Can Be Earned

Since this is a CUSO investment, there are no limits on the amount of revenue a credit union can earn. The only restriction is that a credit union may only invest up to the amount of its unused CUSO investment limit. Note that this CUSO investment limit increases each year as the credit union assets increase. Only the credit union’s cash investment in its CUSOs is counted, and not the present worth of its CUSOs. If an investment is made by a credit union’s CUSO, that amount is not counted in the credit union’s CUSO investment limit.

The Net Income is Higher than Loan Net Income

Every loan program has sourcing, underwriting, servicing, and collection costs that reduce the net yield on a loan. While the representatives of the credit union owners make up the boards of the Funding CUSO and Property Owning CUSOs, CUCM does all the administrative work (e.g., sourcing investors and sellers, managing the purchase process, managing the lease relationship, and managing the financial obligations to the investors). CUCM takes a portion of the investment return as a fee, but only if the credit unions receive at least a 5% annualized return. There is no assets under management (AUM) fee charged by CUCM to the Funding CUSO.

Lending Opportunities are Also Available

The larger purchases include both equity and debt. This means the investors also have lending opportunities. The investors are given priority to both bid to be the lead lender and buy loan participations. 

Low Risk

Excellent Repayment Source 

The revenue for the investment returns is lease payments from well-capitalized credit unions for real estate assets critical to their operations. If a credit union merges with another credit union, the continuing credit union has the legal obligation to continue to make lease payments. If the credit union is conserved, the conservator has the obligation to continue to make payments to retain the lease.

Great Collateral

The investors are the owners of the real estate, and that is an asset that can be sold if the credit union vacates the real estate. When CUCM evaluates a purchase, consideration is given to the ability to sell the real estate if the need arises. If there is a higher risk due to the location of a property, a purchase may be declined or the rent may be set at an amount sufficient to compensate for this risk. CUCM has permitted credit union tenants to sublease a small portion of real estate, but only if the credit union remains liable for 100% of the rent under the master lease.

Diversification of Risk

The Funding CUSO’s ownership of multiple Property Owning CUSOs gives it a diversified investment portfolio.

Isolation of Risk

If there are legal issues with one credit union and its real estate, the legal risk is isolated to the respective Property Owning CUSO that is the owner/landlord and does not flow back to the Funding CUSO and its investors.

Good Liquidity

Each year, CUCM has the value of the Funding CUSO established by a qualified third party so that, if any credit union wants to sell its CUSO ownership, there will be a predetermined price that enables a timely sale. CUCM believes that the attractiveness of the investment and the third-party appraisal will enable a credit union to quickly find (with the help of CUCM if desired) a credit union buyer. This liquidity will enable a credit union to earn attractive returns on funds in the short- and mid-term without making a long-term commitment.

Supports Other Credit Unions

Beyond the financial rewards to the investors, the fact is that these transactions are highly beneficial to the selling credit unions. The sellers get an immediate boost in capital to help them grow, which can be transformative in some cases. The sellers/tenants also have the comfort of dealing with a CUSO as their long-term landlord and not multiple private funds. A stronger credit union industry benefits all credit unions.

This is a Proven Concept

Properties have been purchased from large credit unions such as Truliant Federal Credit Union, Affinity Federal Credit Union, and Wescom Central Credit Union, as well as from smaller credit unions. There are currently 24 credit union investors from all over the United States who have invested over $111 million in capital in the Funding CUSO and made, in the aggregate, over $111 million in loans. The investors have enjoyed annualized net investment returns that were 4.93% in 2022, 5.00% in 2023, and 5.00% in 2024. The net annualized return to CUSO investors is expected to be between 5.00% and 5.50% in 2025 before rising to above 6.00% net in 2026. As the rental income increases each year, so will the investment returns. The Funding CUSO has distributed over $10 million to its credit union owners since 2022 through these regular distributions.  

The Opportunity is Huge      

The NCUA reports state that over 3,300 credit unions collectively hold over $31.5 billion in real estate assets on their books. That represents the collective cost less depreciation, and thus represents a fraction of the estimated market value. The credit union industry has plenty of runway to help the sellers immediately grow capital and the investors to make very attractive returns. There is no reason to give away this revenue to the private sector.

To learn more or connect with CU Capital Management, please visit their website at www.cucapitalmanagement.com or email info@cucapitalmanagement.com.

About the Authors: 

Guy Messick
Advisor
NACUSO Business Services

Guy served as NACUSO General Counsel for over 40 years, advocating for CUSOs with Congress, NCUA and other regulatory agencies. He has authored a book on credit union collaborations and is honored as a CUSO pioneer in America’s Credit Union Museum in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Mitchell Amsler
CEO
CU Capital Management

Mitchell serves as the founder and CEO of CU Capital Management.  In that capacity, he oversees a network of CUSOs focused on sale leasebacks for credit unions.  CU Capital Management’s CUSO network allows credit unions to participate on all sides of a sale leaseback transaction — as sellers, investors and/or lenders.  Most importantly, this allows the full benefits of a sale leaseback to remain within the credit union industry and provides for an alignment of interest between credit union sellers/tenants and the CUSO landlord’s credit union investors/owners.