Member Story: ADK Exclusive

After 13 years in a white collar job, Kory Hosler came to a realization: He just wanted to get his hands dirty again.

So at the age of 36, he ditched his career in employee benefits, put on his Carhartts, and launched ADK Exclusive LLC—a full-service property management and concierge company that handles everything from seasonal maintenance to general contracting and project management for second-homers.

The challenge: When you’re just getting started and have barely a year under your belt, what financial institution is willing to work with you to get the financing you need? “We really had zero credibility in the marketplace outside of being from the area,” he said.

Kory found his answer in Adirondack Regional Federal Credit Union.

“Working with Russ and Sonya and the whole team, it was one of the most painless processes I’ve been through with any financial institution,” Kory said.

He approached Adirondack Regional FCU this summer, when he decided to put a new snowplow on his truck so he could handle more accounts. While Kory could have drawn the money out of his savings, a loan made more sense; “I didn’t want to put myself in a cash flow issue where I wound up hurting myself in the long run,” he says.

Kory already knew us from his previous career, when he managed our employees’ health insurance needs. And from what he knew of working with us—and how he saw us work with others—he didn’t want to go anywhere else. “I’m wary of financial institutions to begin with,” he explains.

Another big selling point to him: The credit union is local. “I really like keeping my money here in town whenever possible,” Kory says.

That includes buying that new, 8-foot-2-inch stainless steel Boss plow from a local dealer. “I wouldn’t have been able to get something that nice without the credit union,” he says.

A year into his new career, Kory is trying to keep things manageable: So far, he’s employee one of one. While he has eight year-round clients and handles snowplowing and landscaping for 25 other properties, he contracts out a lot of his work. The best part of it all? “Running my own show,” he says. “It’s been more work, but it’s been more rewarding.”

By this time next year, he’s hoping to double or even triple the number of plowing contracts he brings into the winter, as well as add more year-round clients. And at that point, he says, he’ll surely need to hire more employees, not to mention purchase more plows and trucks.

He’s got a plan to make that happen.

“There’s no question I’m going to go back to the credit union,” he says.