Though Ent has taken off with the new name of Wings, after a Jan. 1 merger of the two credit unions, the original brand tied to a former military installation in Colorado Springs will live on in a few visible ways.

Namely, the Ent Center for the Arts venue and cultural classroom for the University of Colorado’s campus in Colorado Springs, and Ent Parkway, the street where the credit union’s headquarters are located, will still wear the Ent badge.

“There are things that will stay Ent branded to continue our historical ties to the community and the Air Force base,” said Vanessa Zink, director of media and public relations. “Ent has been a big part of the Colorado Springs community — this feels like a big shift not just for our members but for our entire community.”

It’s possible that a tagline that says, “Powered by Wings” might appear in the future, she said, however, “there are no plans” to change the main part of the performance center’s name.

In March 2015, UCCS and Ent signed documents naming the UCCS visual and performing arts venue as the Ent Center for the Arts. The building opened in 2018 on North Nevada Avenue.

As part of the agreement, Ent received the right to build a free-standing service center at Austin Bluffs Parkway and North Nevada Avenue.

Ent will provide more than $150,000 in scholarships to UCCS students this year, and it contributes annually to support Clyde’s Cupboard, the student food pantry.

A partnership between Ent and UCCS dates to 2006, when students, faculty and staff were offered the option of having an Ent checking account and debit card as part of their university photo identification. The Ent Lion OneCard is now for debit and ATM use, and the agreement between the two entities extends for at least another decade, according to UCCS documents.

“The Ent Center name has become synonymous with artistic excellence and cultural vibrancy in Colorado Springs,” David Siegel, executive director of the Ent Center for the Arts at UCCS, said in an email. “The Ent Center name is widely recognized as a premier destination for the arts in southern Colorado.”

The venue attracts more than 100,000 visitors yearly through hosting Theatreworks productions, the Artist Series, Galleries of Contemporary Art exhibitions and other community events, he said.

As Ent becomes known as Wings Credit Union, Siegel said he looks forward to “continuing our partnership while maintaining the legacy name that honors Gen. Ent.”

Ent Credit Union announced on Dec. 5 that it was merging as an equal with Minnesota-based Wings Credit Union, after Wings members voted “overwhelmingly in favor of adopting Ent’s charter.”

Since Ent’s charter remains the same, its members did not vote on the deal.

The combined credit unions have a total of about 1 million members, Zink said, and about $20 billion in assets, according to the merger notice.

Ent was founded in 1957 to serve military and civilian personnel assigned to the former Ent Air Force Base, which is now the site of the Colorado Springs Olympic & Paralympic Training Center on East Boulder Street.

Both the base and the credit union were named to honor Maj. Gen. Uzal Girard Ent, commander of the Ninth Air Force during World War II.

Ent has grown to become Colorado’s largest credit union, operating 62 service centers, half of which are in the greater Colorado Springs area.

Ent also built a new, nearly 300,000-square-foot headquarters on 27 acres at 11550 Ent Parkway in the Northgate neighborhood, which opened in 2021.

The local headquarters will remain as is, and so will the Wings headquarters in Apple Valley, Minn., organization leaders said. Wings was founded in 1938 by seven airline employees.

The rebranding of Ent to Wings is a “slow rollout,” Zink said, because many new signs, promotions, documents and other materials must be changed.

The core conversion of the banking systems is expected to take three years, Zink said.

“It’s not just a flip of a switch,” she said. “It’s a step-by-step process.”

Beginning soon, a new digital platform will debut, Zink said, and signs will start being replaced with the new name next month as well.