In the post-financial crash economy, good news has been in short supply, but one outlier has been the state's credit union industry. Collectively, the state's 22 credit unions have seen assets grow from $4 billion at the beginning of 2008 to more than $5 billion in 2011. While a 25 percent bump in assets may not seem world-beating when compared to returns during the bubble period of securitized mortgage bonds and credit default swaps, it does reflect a subtle shift in consumer preference.