February 2021 E Newsletter Potsdam

Forward

Dear Member,

I want to sincerely apologize for the frustrations with our online banking and ATM/Debit Cards you may have experienced during the week of February 15. As we have continued to build our virtual banking capabilities, we rely on companies that have the capacity to provide 99.9% availability of these tools. Unfortunately, the catastrophic weather in Texas during that week resulted in a 0.1% event.

During this time, we did our best to provide you with the latest information as soon as we received it. In addition to sending email to members, we also posted on our website and social media. If you did not see communications during this time, we encourage you to contact us to verify we have your correct email on file, like us on Facebook, and bookmark our webpage for quick access to news and information.

Your membership and the trust you place in us as your financial institution are of the greatest importance. If there are ways we can better communicate with you if faced with an event like this in the future, we welcome your input--we want to make sure our communications plan is serving you as well as it can. And, of course, if you ever have concerns or questions, you don't have to wait for us to reach out to you; we're always happy to take your calls or questions in person.

At this point, all operations are back to normal. Thanks so much for your patience, and as always, thank you for being a member.

Russ Cronin
President & CEO

NEWS FROM YOUR CREDIT UNION

Education: Our best investment

We’re earmarking 10 scholarships for seniors from Clinton, Essex, Franklin or St. Lawrence counties who have been accepted to a 2- or 4-year school. Two students will get a $1,000 scholarship, while eight will receive $500 scholarships.

Learn more & apply

Wide open spaces

Summer is coming. (Promise.) And if warmer temperatures make you think of piling into a camper and hitting the open road, we have even better news: 10-year loans for new and used campers are on sale until May 30.

Start planning now

PPP loans still available

In late 2020, Congress approved a second round of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans for small businesses. Applications are due by March 31. If you participated in the first round, we can also help apply for forgiveness of those loans.

Full PPP Info

Ever get the sense that managing your money takes a Ph.D.? Ethan Knight understands the feeling—and he wants to help. Ethan, once a member of a college dance team, isn’t tap dancing around the issue: Finance stresses some people out. He wants to help. “My professional goal is to take topics that are widely agreed to be confusing and difficult to approach, such as finance, and turn them into easily understood ideas so that anyone can feel comfortable and confident tackling them head-on.”

You’re from Colton; what keeps you here?
I stick around this area for the small-town activities such as hiking and camping. They allow me to enjoy the beautiful North Country scenery.

What do you like most about working here?
I like helping our friends and neighbors achieve their financial goals. Our sense of community at the credit union helps members and employees enjoy friendlier, more laid-back and less stressful banking experiences.

You studied biology in college. What about your studies do you put to work every day?
Humans are habitual animals, so the earlier you learn good financial habits, the less you’ll have to worry about financial stressors later on down the road!

Your Membership is an Investment in Our Communities