To the Editor:

October 19th is International Credit Union Day. The theme is pertinent to us as it is what our mission has been all about since the very beginning – Dreams Thrive Here.

It all started with a tool box (which is iconic for us today and can be seen in the lobbies of all our branches), $50 and a shared vision of then ten Chevrolet Foundry workers, who each wanted to improve the financial lives of not only themselves, but those they worked with. That vision is no less important today than it was back on June 6, 1963.

As Arthur Ashe, Jr., once said, “Success is a journey and not a destination.” Today, that journey for SeaComm is continual, as we work each and every day to improve the financial lives of our 44,000+ members and the communities in which we do business.

We are committed to financial education outreach: We offer financial education to adults and students, including financial presentations in our surrounding schools; we host seminars, including: First-time home buyers, budgeting, managing credit and preventing identity theft; provide free access to financial counseling; host several Super Saturday tax events preparing tax returns for low-to-moderate income taxpayers.

We support our communities:

In the last year, SeaComm employees spent more than 2500 hours in the communities in which they live volunteering. They did this as part of our initiative “Do Some Good”, a program whereby SeaComm allows employee to volunteer at an organization of their choice during work time.

To name just a few: Meals on Wheels, Back the Pack, rescue squads, fire departments, Relay for Life, Massena Boys and Girls Club, coaching sports, AMVETS, Rotary, church committees, Boy and Girl Scouts and school related committees

And, as an organization, we contributed more than $100,000 in direct contributions and scholarships. Most recently, we committed $25,000 each to the Massena Memorial Hospital Foundation, CVPH Foundation and Claxton Hepburn Foundation.

We promote and encourage excellence in education: Our Spin the Wave program promotes academic excellence, which enables school-aged students to bring their report cards into any of our branches and spin the wheel to win prizes; ten academic scholarships are given to area high school graduating seniors; SeaComm has endowed scholarships at SUNY Potsdam, SUNY Canton, SUNY Plattsburgh, Clinton Community College and North Country Community College to assist North Country students in any declared undergraduate academic degree program.

On behalf of the Board of Directors, management and our entire staff, we look forward to carrying on this rich history and continuing the journey that was started by those ten men of People Helping People attain their dreams.

Happy International Credit Union Day!

Scott A. Wilson

SeaComm president & CEO