Staying the Course
Despite the many ways the world—and SELCO—has changed over our nearly nine decades, one constant has never wavered: The best interests of our members and communities drive every decision we make.
We continue to live and reinforce this promise daily—through the creation and refinement of our member-centric products and services to community efforts like our recently launched Steps Up Program.
Read on for examples of how we stayed the course with our member-focused mission in 2024.
Our communities’ needs are always changing, which means how we address those needs must evolve as well. With that in mind, last February we launched SELCO Steps Up, a reimagined and expanded community involvement program.
And was there ever a lot of stepping up in the program’s first year! Between community giving, student and educator support, and financial education, we donated more than $443,000 to nonprofit and educational causes (not to mention the 1,000+ hours of team member volunteering). Here are just a few highlights:
- Classroom Makeovers. In Year One of this program, SELCO awarded nearly $42,000 to three schools in three different regions of Oregon to help transform their learning spaces. Scroll down to “See Us on Social” to watch the three winners being announced.
- Scholarships. In 2024, we opened the scholarship program to vocational, continuing, and nontraditional students for the first time and boosted the total amount awarded to $77,500—an increase of nearly 50%.
“Becoming the first person to receive a SELCO scholarship for the trades was an amazing feeling. With the help of that scholarship, I completed my training and I am already in my career. Earning that scholarship was a big help, and it truly made me feel like I was included.”
- Reese Biehler of Cottage Grove, who now works as an aerial lineman for Hunter Communications, a Central Point, Oregon-based internet provider.
Learn more about Reese and SELCO’s scholarship program in this spotlight video.
- SquareOne Villages Grant. In May, with the help of matching funds from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines, SELCO awarded $200,000 to SquareOne Villages, a nonprofit that builds self-managed communities of cost-effective tiny homes for people in need of housing. Watch a short video about SquareOne Villages here.
Year One of SELCO Steps Up was a rousing success, and we look forward to having an even greater impact in 2025.
Wherever our members are on their financial journeys, we offer a comprehensive suite of tools and resources to help them achieve their financial goals. Here are a few ways we made it a little easier in 2024 for our members to do their banking—and feel safe doing it:
- Early deposit access. Gone are the days of waiting until payday. Starting in June, SELCO members were able to access their paychecks, government payments, or other automated deposits up to two days early.
- Security enhancements. Fraudsters are always seeking new ways to exploit people’s sensitive information—but that doesn’t mean you can’t fight back. In 2024, SELCO doubled down on our commitment to developing, enhancing, and refining our scam awareness and prevention resources to help keep our members’ accounts safe.
- HELOC specials. Through well-thought-out specials last year, SELCO devised new ways for members to make home renovations more affordable in a challenging housing market.
- Video banking. With the new video banking feature, our Contact Center has the ability to help members apply for loans, get their IDs verified while applying for membership, and have documents notarized.
- Auto leasing. Amid soaring prices for new and used vehicles, we launched an auto leasing program to give members easy access to affordable financing options.
In 2024, we continued to ramp up our social media presence on our Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok channels. Whether sharing team member expertise, spotlights on members and community partners, or one of our SELCO Steps Up initiatives, we reached deeper into our storytelling toolkit to create posts that reached more people than ever before. Here are some of our video highlights:
- Announcing the Classroom Makeover Winners. In December, we surprised the three winners of the inaugural SELCO Classroom Makeovers.
- Latino Roots Spotlight. As part of our Community Partner Spotlight series, The Latino Roots Project describes their two-term, 20-week course at the University of Oregon.
- KIDS Center Spotlight. SELCO community partner KIDS Center of Central Oregon talks about its child abuse-prevention mission.
- Tacos El Poblanito Spotlight. SELCO shines a Member Spotlight on Luis Rivera, owner of Tacos El Poblanito food truck in Redmond.
- Jill Plumb. This Creative Educator Spotlight features Springfield theater teacher Jill Plumb and her digital storytelling project.
Want to watch more? You can find all our videos on our YouTube channel.
To achieve our mission to improve our members’ social and economic position, we use four guiding principles to 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 2024 in each of these areas:
Safety and Soundness: SELCO generated solid earnings and produced an ROA (return on assets) that met projections and a year-end capital ratio of 11.56%. 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 2024, state and federal examiners once again provided SELCO with a fully favorable examination report.
Strategic Positioning: SELCO remained diligent throughout 2024 to position the organization and our members for continued success. Thanks to ongoing member feedback, we made numerous enhancements to our virtual voice/chat assistant and digital banking platform. As interest rates were lowered multiple times throughout the year, we continued to refine our deposit offerings while offering competitive loan products.
Quality Personal Service: On behalf of our members, we processed over one million transactions. In 2024, we funded 17,341 consumer and business loans, totaling $497 million. SELCO Mortgage funded and brokered 446 mortgages, totaling $168 million. SELCO Insurance Services wrote 2,833 policies, and SELCO Investment & Retirement Services managed $419 million in member investments.
High Return to Members: SELCO provided direct benefits to members through lower account fees, higher interest rates on savings and checking accounts, and competitive loan rates. Our comprehensive product and service offerings continued to help SELCO members borrow sensibly, save smarter, and invest wisely.
Thank you for choosing SELCO as your financial partner. As a member-owned institution, these successes are yours as well, and we couldn’t have accomplished them without you.