Board Meeting Newsletters
2021 Q2 Boards Newsletter
Dear Fellow Members,
I am glad to report that your credit union continues to post exceptional records for productivity, even during this last year, which certainly included some unexpected difficulties. Because you have trusted us with your assets, and invested in us by taking out loans, your money is helping others in the community re-grow their businesses, improve their lives, and build for the future. The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation continues to give us high marks for security, management skills, and the quality of our loan portfolio. One of the things that impressed me was that all of our branches—our home branch in Garberville, our new branch in Ukiah and our Nomad branch, which has spent a lot of time serving Willits, are all opening new accounts and making loans.
We have focused on employee satisfaction in the last few months, with a goal of being not only the best credit union in our field of membership, but also the best employer. We have also continued our efforts to introduce new services that many of you have requested and we will have more to come!
We are actively seeking to hire more employees to serve your needs and are committed to offering salaries and benefits that make working for us rewarding.
As a community credit union, one of our goals is to invest in the communities we serve, especially in education and safety. Here are some examples of our recent sponsorships:
• Friends of the Garberville Library $10,000
• Healy Senior Center $5,000
• Safe Fire Awareness Campaign by SHB&V Bureau $1,900
• Briceland Volunteer Fire Department New Firehouse $5,000
• Mendocino Coast Children’s Fund $5,000
• United Disaster Relief of Northern California $5,000
• Mateel Community Center $10,000
Thank you for your trust in us, your investment in your community and for your membership. As our state and businesses open up after this long 15 months, we wish you all good health and renewed prosperity!
Sincerely, and on behalf of your volunteer Board of Directors,
Marcia Mendels
Board Chair
2021 Q1 Boards Newsletter
Dear Fellow Members,
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected our local communities and neighborhoods – collectively and in various degrees as individuals. As noted at the Annual Meeting on February 16, 2021, your credit union has taken strong steps to support member and staff safety while maintaining uninterrupted lobby, phone, and electronic services, for your benefit during this dangerous time. We are proud to say we remained open throughout the year, with no branch lobby closures or reduced hours, even as our team responded to the pending evacuations of our town during the wildfire scares, coupled with the pandemic responses necessary to keep our doors open to serve you.
The Board wants to be sure you know that the credit union team has worked hard to work directly with individual members and local businesses to assist with financial aid such as loan payment deferrals and extensions and emergency loans during this time. As we conclude the first quarter of 2021 and have marked a full 12 months of dealing with the effects of COVID-19, we are hopeful that the coming year will provide the beginning of relief to our members and our communities.
Here are some items of special interest:
Our Ukiah Branch is now open as of March 8, 2021 and is located at 530 E. Perkins Street, Ukiah- in the Pear Tree Shopping Center. It includes a 24/7 deposit-taking ATM and a night deposit drop box.
Our team in Ukiah are there to serve you Mon-Thurs 9am-5pm / Friday 9am-6pm and Saturday 9-1pm
We have increased the number of bi-lingual teammates to better serve our Spanish-speaking members.
Our Member Service Phone Center team has extended their service hours and are now available to you from 8:30am – 5pm Mon-Thurs/ Friday 8:30- 6pm and Saturday 9am – 1pm, effective March 15, 2021.
Our NOMAD Mobile Branch was deployed during the wildfire evacuation threats and is currently parked in Willits at 90 S. Main Street for your convenience.
The ATM is available 24/7 every day it is located there, and the staff is there Monday 10am – 4pm and Thursdays 10am – 4pm each week.
We need to continue our moratorium on Notary services during this time. Management is monitoring county-based activity related to the pandemic and potential outbreak and infection risks. At this time, the extended face to face time needed to conduct notary services remains on hold to protect both staff and members. However, we are pleased that our dedicated staff continues to offer the full array of lobby-based, phone-based, and electronic processes, products and services that are the core of our financial cooperative benefits for our members.
The vacant property located on Locust Street in Garberville has been sold, and the Credit Union is purchasing the building at 745-747 Redwood Drive (most of us know it as the old location for the House of Burgess, and the now shuttered Blue Room Lounge.) We will also now own the private parking lot between the two credit union buildings. This purchase provides growing room for our credit union, potential for a future training facility or a community service space, storage and equipment needs, and it supports the anchor of our headquarters here in Southern Humboldt.
Sincerely, and on behalf of your volunteer Board of Directors,
Marcia Mendels
Board Chair