VETERAN SPOTLIGHT:
A VeteranFriendly Business SERVICE CREDIT UNION IS HONORED FOR ITS WORK WITH VETERANS
May Hatem, Vice President of Human Resources and Training at Service Credit Union
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We appreciate everything that veterans have done for the country and are still doing.
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— MAY HATEM, VICE PRESIDENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES AND TRAINING, SERVICE CREDIT UNION
8 servicecu.org | June 2022
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ou value military experience, recognize the skills and talents service members and veterans provide, and your efforts to support and empower veterans and their families help to strengthen our communities” — those were the words of Gov. Chris Sununu when Service Credit Union was named one of the state’s Veteran-Friendly Businesses. It is a biennial award that Service CU has received twice since the Business Recognition Program was launched in 2019. Most recently, Service CU was honored with the highest level of recognition, Platinum. Presented by the Department of Military Affairs and Veterans Service in partnership with the NH Department of Employment Security, the award signifies that recipients are implementing four practices: to honor, fortify, empower and impact the New Hampshire veteran community. The program was designed to provide businesses with a road map to increase their support of veterans. That road map is one that Service CU helped to create during its many years of working to support those serving in the military. “It goes back to 1957 when Service Credit Union was founded as a military credit union,” says May Hatem, Vice President of Human Resources and Training at Service Credit Union and a member of the NH Veterans Business Recognition Program advisory board. “It was created for airmen and their families at what was then Pease Air Force Base in Portsmouth.” From those roots, Service CU would expand to serving military personnel stationed in Germany; today there are 14 branches there. When Pease Air Force Base closed in 1991, membership was extended to other populations, but the focus on military members continued. Among the services offered that are exclusive to the military are saving accounts with higher dividend rates and discounted interest rates for loans, including a relocation loan for a permanent change of station, or PCS, to cover unexpected expenses. In addition to those benefits, Hatem says Service CU has
Service CU Recognized for Work with the Military When it was founded in 1957, Service Credit Union’s sole mission was to provide affordable credit to airmen and their families at what was then the Pease Air Force Base in Portsmouth. Five decades later, its mission has expanded to those outside the military, but it is still providing special
