VETERAN SPOTLIGHT: A Veteran- Friendly Business

SERVICE CREDIT UNION IS HONORED FOR ITS WORK WITH VETERANS

“You 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 created an environment that is comfortable for veterans and active-duty military. “We know what the military acronyms mean, we know what PCS means,” Hatem says. “We know the military hierarchies, the pay scales.”

To expand its support, Service CU partners with other military and veteran-focused organizations, such as VETRN, short for Veteran Entrepreneurial Training and Resource Network. The program helps veteran business owners and family members manage their operations and enhance business success with a free series of MBA-style course. Service CU has supported the program with both expertise and classroom facilities, hosting four graduating classes.

Other partners include Veterans Count, an Easterseals program with a mission to provide critical financial assistance and services to veterans and their families when no other resource is available. According to Easterseals statistics, to date homelessness has been prevented for 1,652 families at risk of foreclosure or eviction, 2,563 individuals were successfully engaged in mental health treatment, care coordinators have intervened in 124 cases of significant suicide risk, and 1,397 program participants have obtained employment.

Support for that good work is provided by Service CU’s sponsorship of fundraising events, with employees adding to the event by volunteering their time. Among the many events Service CU has partnered with Veterans Count on are the Thunder Over New Hampshire Air Show in Portsmouth and an upcoming black-tie 10th Annual Salute Our Soldiers Gala in North Hampton

Also, Service CU’s Impact Foundation, a nonprofit charity arm of the credit union, holds the Charity Golf Classic each year to benefit military families and veterans. The foundation partners with the Robert Irvine Foundation, whose mission supports service members, veterans and their family members through health and wellness programs. “The money that’s raised — $300,000 last year — goes to veterans, not just in New Hampshire but all across the country,” Hatem says.

During the second annual golf tournament held last year, Hatem says Manchester-based inventor/businessman Dean Kamen was there to demonstrate his revolutionary iBOT ® personal mobility device (PMD). Not only can the PMD navigate all terrains, it can raise the user from sitting to standing level. After seeing the demonstration, Hatem says, a discussion began about the possibility of raising money for veterans who could benefit from the costly iBOT ® but could not afford one.

That same year, at Veterans Count's On the Tarmac fundraising event the weekend of the Air Show in New Hampshire, enough money was raised to purchase 12 PMDs for veterans. After that, Hatem says, “We decided to create a program where veterans could finance the PMD through us.” In March 2022, Service CU launched the iBOT ® loan in partnership with iBOT ® manufacturer Mobius Mobility. The loan requires no money down and no credit check so that the PMD can be accessible to those who would not be able to afford it out of pocket. More information can be found at servicecu.org/ibot.

Both as part of her work as Vice President of Human Resources and as a member of the Business Recognition Program advisory board, Hatem works hard to see that veterans get jobs. For Service CU jobs, Hatem says, “Who better than a veteran to understand our members who are part of the military?” On the advisory board, she networks with other members and makes sure the members that are smaller businesses without HR departments are aware of the information needed when hiring veterans, such as relevant state and federal law, and veteran protections.

“We appreciate everything that veterans have done for the country and are still doing,” Hatem says. “We’ll continue to help them as best we can, and we’ll continue to strengthen our ties to them.” n

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 services for active-duty military, veterans and their families with loan discounts, special savings programs and more.

Service CU's work with the military has garnered numerous awards. Among the most recent:

• Newsweek magazine selected Service CU as having the “Best Military Saving Account” in its 2022 list of “America’s Best Banks.”

• The Penny Hoarder in January 2022 named Service CU as “Best Military Credit Union” for its high-yield savings account.

• In February 2021, Service CU was named one of four credit unions selected by Business Insider for its list of “Best Banks and Credit Unions for Military Members and Their Families.”

• Investopedia named Service CU to its list of “Best Credit Unions for 2021” in the category of “Best for Military Individuals and Families.”

• USO Europe announced in October 2021 that Service CU is an official Mission Partner in supporting the military community.