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2022 Annual Highlights

Staying True to Our Vision

SELCO's many 2022 milestones reflect a post-pandemic landscape of evolving member preferences and expectations for more digital solutions. Yet, the personal touch will always play a crucial role in how we support our members and team members—a truth that was also borne out by the past year. From launching a complex digital banking platform to resuming partnerships disrupted by the pandemic to welcoming team members back to the office (and adding many more), we stayed true to our vision of meeting people where they are and helping our members and communities reach their goals.

Setting up our members for success

SELCO is constantly seeking ways to empower our members to borrow responsibly, save sensibly, and invest wisely. And 2022 was no exception. Here are a few enhancements we made to make it easier for our members to reach (and track) their financial goals in this changing landscape:

  • Streamlined digital banking. In October 2022, SELCO unveiled a new digital banking platform, offering a convenient hub for a multitude of mobile and online banking features. Enhancements range from managing all your accounts from a single login to integrated card controls. With this upgrade, SELCO members can truly do their banking anytime, anywhere. And for our Spanish-speaking members, the entire digital banking platform can be translated with one click.
  • A ‘savvy’ way to monitor your credit. One of the many features available to all members in digital banking is SavvyMoney, a program that helps you stay on top of your credit by providing your latest credit score, most recent credit report, and key factors that impact your score. Even better, it’s entirely free to enroll, and you’ll even receive email alerts when there’s been a change to your credit profile.
  • A fun way to learn about finance. In 2022, we began partnering with Zogo, a free smartphone app that helps people level up their financial literacy skills. The app offers hundreds of real-world and bite-sized financial lessons (with more added each day). The best part? Each time you complete a lesson you earn points to redeem for gift cards from Amazon, Target, Best Buy, and other major retailers. Getting paid to learn—how cool is that?
  • Enhancing financial education opportunities. In 2022, SELCO extended our webinar offerings to include year-round introductions to Medicare education but also regular webinars from our SELCO Investment & Retirement Services team, covering topics such as annuities and investing for beginners. Our Mortgage team also began conducting online Home Buyer Workshops, which will become a recurring feature in 2023.
Investing in Community

SELCO continued to come up with new, innovative ways to partner with our community and community organizations. Through sponsorships, educator grants, and student scholarships, we contributed nearly $275,000 toward educational and community efforts in 2022.

After a two-year hiatus, we also resumed our presenting sponsorship of Pole Pedal Paddle, a Central Oregon tradition and one of the largest multi-sport events in the Pacific Northwest. And to help celebrate the opening of the North Redmond Branch, we partnered with a different nonprofit (and local eatery) each day of our Open House Week, helping bring awareness and raising funds for Jericho Road, NeighborImpact, and KIDS Center, to name a few. Here are a few other highlights:

SELCO team members cheered for Pole Pedal Paddle participants as they crossed the finish line.

SPARK! Creative Learning Grants.

In 2022, SELCO provided over $54,000 in supplemental funding as part of its SPARK! Creative Learning Grants program. These funds allowed 60 educators from 55 schools all across Oregon to help instill the love of learning through creative classroom projects. Here’s a sampling:

  • “CSI – Mysteries of Science & Social Studies” (Bend): Unlocking the mysteries of science and social studies through CSI-style activities and projects.
  • “Movement Supports Our Learning!” (Springfield): Using large-motor activities to learn how to manage their emotions in healthy, positive ways.
  • “STEAM Comic Books” (Camas Valley): Equipping students with technology tools to design, illustrate and publish comic books about science topics that will be read to and shared with younger students.
“SELCO's SPARK! grant allowed our school to buy a beautiful hardback book for each of our students to take home and enjoy. The beauty of a National Geographic book is that students can read and re-read it, finding fun and interesting facts each time it’s opened. Our parents have been thrilled to receive and enjoy the books with their children.”

- K’Lynn Coleman, reading teacher who led the “BOOKS: School to Home Connection” program at Clemens Primary School in Philomath

Clockwise, from top left: In August, SELCO helped distribute over 1,920 backpacks filled with school supplies along with 400 food boxes through the Boys & Girls Club of Salem, Marion and Polk Counties. SELCO joined the Springfield Education Foundation Grant Givers Tour in spring, surprising educators with news of their grant winnings. At the Summer Block Party hosted by the Gilbert House Children’s Museum, we taught kids how to create penny spinners. In partnership with NeighborImpact and Roundabout Books, over 1,000 books were donated to Head Start and Early Head Start families throughout Central Oregon. SELCO team members got down in the dirt to build raised garden beds for community members as part of Willamalane’s G.R.O.W. Project.

Community sponsorships.

In 2022, SELCO collaborated with dozens of new and existing nonprofits to support our communities in meaningful ways, including:

  • SMART Reading. SMART (Start Making a Reader Today) is a volunteer-driven children’s literacy nonprofit that connects kids, books, and adult mentors. SELCO has been a longtime supporter of the incredible work SMART does, and in 2022 we extended our long-term partnership with Lane County to include Bend and Burns.
  • Looking Glass. Looking Glass partners with over 35 local providers, government agencies, and community leaders to provide essential social services to children and their families. This past year, SELCO contributed basic-needs items for homeless youths— jeans, shirts, backpacks, shoes, etc.—as part of the New Roads program.
In July, SELCO sent the Looking Glass staff on a shopping spree for much-needed items for the New Roads Drop-In Center, which provides food and clothing to homeless youth and serves as a cooling center during the summer months.
  • After and Out of School program at Ophelia’s Place. Supporting Ophelia’s Place’s mission to help girls make healthy life choices through empowerment, education, and support, this SELCO-sponsored program provides girls with a safe place to spend time between school and home. In the process, girls learn social skills, build friendships, and meet with trauma-informed staff as needed.
  • Boys & Girls Club of Emerald Valley. The Boys & Girls Club helps inspire and empower young people to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens. In 2022, SELCO partnered to create a financial education week. Kids learned about budgeting and planning, then put those skills to the test in a Price Is Right-themed game.
To celebrate the end of a week-long financial education project, SELCO brought out not only a giant check, but an ice cream truck as well!

SELCO Scholarships.

SELCO continued its tradition of supporting students seeking higher education by awarding scholarships to 20 worthy high school seniors in 2022. For the second year, 19 students received $2,500 scholarships, with one applicant receiving the $5,000 Richard Metzler Opportunity Scholarship (awarded to a graduating senior who, despite adversity or lack of opportunity, has demonstrated excellence in education, leadership, or civic responsibility).

Financial & Strategic Highlights

Despite the economic volatility that continued throughout 2022, SELCO had a strong year both financially and operationally. The organization ended the year with $2.6 billion in assets and $2.3 billion in deposits, while increasing loan volume with nearly $1.9 billion funded. Beyond our financial successes, we’re proud to share a couple of the year’s other noteworthy accomplishments and milestones:

  • Membership, workforce grow in tandem. In 2022, SELCO’s back-office support teams completed their move to the new Springfield headquarters. As everyone settled into their new work situation, the SELCO team kept growing, surpassing the 450-employee milestone. Hiring and onboarding continues its upward trend, meaning we’re better equipped than ever to serve our growing membership, which exceeded 150,000 in 2022.
  • North Redmond Branch’s maiden voyage. In May 2023, SELCO’s newest branch, North Redmond, will celebrate its first birthday. (This full-service, freestanding branch replaced the smaller branch previously located in the nearby Redmond Walmart.) Since cutting the ribbon, the branch has opened about 500 new accounts, including 32 business accounts, and currently has about 2,500 members. Needless to say, the North Redmond Branch was highly anticipated by people in town, so the word was already out. With this addition, SELCO is once again the only credit union with multiple Redmond locations.
SELCO celebrated the opening of the North Redmond Branch in May with a week dedicated to the community. Festivities included a ribbon cutting with the Redmond Chamber of Commerce and donations to local community partners like Jericho Road, NeighborImpact, KIDS Center, and Kindred Connections.
“I am exceedingly proud of the SELCO team’s accomplishments in 2022,” said Bob Newcomb, SELCO President & CEO. “Despite everything thrown at us—inflation, supply chain issues, and aggressive Fed rate hikes—we stayed focused on the fundamentals that best serve the social and economic interest of our members.”
Chairperson and President's Report

To achieve our mission to improve our members’ social and economic position, we use four guiding principles to help shape our strategic and operational decisions: Safety and Soundness, Strategic Positioning, Quality Personal Service, and High Return to Members. Below are just a few of our noteworthy accomplishments for 2022 in each of these areas:

  • Safety and Soundness: SELCO generated solid earnings and produced an ROA (return on assets) that exceeded projections and peer comparisons, driving the capital ratio to 10.99%. This ratio is considered well capitalized per the industry’s standards for a safe and sound credit union as determined by the NCUA, the credit union industry’s federal regulatory body. In 2022, state and federal examiners provided SELCO with a fully favorable examination report.
  • Strategic Positioning: SELCO continued its push throughout the year to better position the organization for the future. Leading the pack was the rollout of a new digital banking platform, a robust system that significantly improved (and enhanced) our members’ banking experience. In addition to that massive undertaking, SELCO created a new product called Elevate Checking, designed to help members build strong financial management skills on their way to a traditional SELCO checking account.
  • Quality Personal Service: In 2022, SELCO branches processed 1 million transactions for our growing membership, which ended the year with 151,614 members. We funded 28,467 loans totaling $930 million. SELCO Mortgage funded 698 mortgages totaling $233 million, SELCO Insurance Services wrote 2,633 policies, and SELCO Investment & Retirement Services managed $338 million in member investments.
  • High Return to Members: In 2022, SELCO provided direct benefits to members through lower account fees, higher interest rates on savings and checking accounts, and lower interest rates on loans. We continued to help SELCO members borrow sensibly, save smarter, and invest wisely with our comprehensive product and service offerings coupled with industry-leading rates.

Thank you for choosing SELCO as your financial partner. We couldn’t have accomplished any of this without you.

Curt Heimuller - Chair, SELCO Community Credit Union Board of Directors
Bob Newcomb - President/CEO, The SELCO Companies