The saying goes that from great chaos comes great opportunity. In the financial world, still reeling from near-collapse, no entities may understand that adage better than credit unions.

In the Tri-Counties and nationwide, these distant cousins of banks found that because they stuck to conservative lending practices, they’ve remained well-capitalized and are now poised to take on new business when other lenders can’t.

“Not only are credit unions surviving the economic situation, but they’re finding ways to grow,” said Daniel Penrod, senior industry analyst at the California Credit Union League in Ontario.

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