Welcome to summer, where travel and family adventures take flight. We hope that you and your families are able to enjoy the longer days and your travels, or even some downtime with a staycation here on the beautiful Central Coast. SESLOC is proud to be celebrating our 80th Anniversary of helping members with their financial well-being. 81 years ago, 10 educators met in the SLO High School library to begin the journey of chartering a credit union for school employees, which they finally did in 1942. The initial collected deposits to start the credit union was modest—the grand amount totaling $500 in assets.
80 years later, SESLOC has assets of $1.2 billion, but with the very same focus of providing affordable financial services to all. To honor the legacy of that initial $500 foundation deposit, SESLOC is giving $500 away 80 times this year. Over the course of the year, we are surprising 80 local nonprofits with checks for $500, with the specific intent to use these funds as a way to thank the staff members, whether lunch, dinner or some other fun activity. We want to thank these stars for their work in making us the compassionate community that we are.
Recently, we conducted a Member Pulse Survey regarding your use of digital, remote and contactless member services. The first question asked about the importance of sustainability overall. I’m pleased to report the average rating from respondents was a 4 out 5 in favor of sustainability. At SESLOC, we share this same sentiment — looking out for our neighbors and protecting our environment is of utmost importance. Our digital services should help skip a branch visit, save money on gas and cut paper usage, all which reduce your overall carbon footprint. While transacting in-person in one of our six branches will always be available to you, convenience, accessibility, security and now sustainability are our areas of focus in deploying new services.
With that, we’ve committed to completing 80 Acts of Sustainability by year end. From hosting Shred Day document recycling events to participating in RideShare’s commuter challenges, our energetic staff is eager to support this platform. They’ll be happy to show you a new digital service that can help make your life easier, such as making online loan payments, or depositing checks on the SESLOC mobile app. See more remote banking options throughout this newsletter.
Our Local Rewards program expands this month, giving you bonus rewards points on purchases with eligible SESLOC Visa cards at 38 businesses spanning 46 locations across the Central Coast. We’ve created a new business directory on sesloc.org to help you plan your next dining or shopping trip, which will boost both the points in your account and the money spent locally in our community.
And in a bittersweet close, please join me in giving SESLOC Board Director, Jacquie Paulsen, our heartfelt thanks for her contributions to growing SESLOC to a $1.2 billion institution while retaining our hometown, local relationship with members like you.
We are humbled by the wonderful support we have received over these last eight decades. The magic of the people here, combined with the beauty of the place we live, are the core of SESLOC. Have a wonderful summer.
