Business View Magazine l October 2022

109 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 10 SEACOMM FEDERAL CREDI T UNION Today, the credit union mantra of ‘People Before Profit’ is nowhere more palpable than at SeaComm. “Our members own us, honestly,” Wilson maintains. “I occasionally get phone calls from members who start out by saying, ‘I hate to bother you…’ and my response is always, ‘I work for you’. That’s really important to recognize – that the end user really owns us. Therefore, everything is focused on exceptional member service.” On par with other credit unions, SeaComm is governed by a Board of Directors fulfilled by volunteer positions and elected by the membership. When members open an account, they get a share of the cooperative valued at $5 which earns them a vote at the annual meeting. “When you think about it from that perspective, what I’m talking about in terms of ‘ownership’ is extremely important,” says Wilson. “Our culture is built upon that. We obsess over service, and that means that our employees are also giving exceptional service to each other. We have a very respectful, warm, and inviting environment here at SeaComm – it’s all around service.” When people come to work for SeaComm, there are certain service promises they have to agree to that are designed to foster that culture of caring and teamwork. “One of the ways we gauge how well that’s working is with an engagement survey,” shares Wilson. “We’ve contracted with an engagement survey of some sort for the last 12consecutive years. We’ve also participated in the Best Companies to Work for in New York program. We were on that list for those 10 consecutive years. When we opened our Vermont operations, we went out and got the Great Place to Work survey company, which is internationally recognized, and we’ve earned that certification for the last couple of years, as well. That conversation for us is built upon