Page 15 - BusinessWest October 17, 2022

President and CEO Glenn Welch (center) with some of his team.
Banking & Financial Services
Century Unlimited
Freedom Credit Union Marks an Important Milestone
WBy George O’Brien
hen asked what might come
next for Freedom Credit Union, Glenn Welch said simply, “we’re going to continue doing what we’ve been doing for the past
100 years.”
By that he meant ... well, a whole lot of things,
from continued growth and innovation to embracing new technology; from growing the base of customers to extending the institution’s geographic reach; from finding new ways to serve members to giving back to the community.
There will be more of all of that, said Welch, presi- dent and CEO of Freedom, who offered what amount- ed to a ‘state of the credit union’ report for Business- West on the occasion of its 100th birthday.
The milestone (July 22 was the official birthday) has been marked in various ways — from a 100-day
summer food drive that raised $4,100 for the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts and collected 930 pounds of food for the Gray House, to a week of ice cream at all the branches in late July for members and employees; from raffles and giveaways for members to specials on loans and CDs.
“It’s a big milestone these days for a financial insti- tution to be around that long,” Welch said. “So we wanted to celebrate with the community.”
Mostly, though, the institution has been quietly continuing those patterns of behavior listed above, he added, noting that he and his team are being both innovative and entrepreneurial as they go about writ- ing the next chapter in a history that began with an institution known as the Western Massachusetts Tele- phone Workers Credit Union, formed when Warren Harding was patrolling the White House.
Listing examples of both, he said Freedom will soon be introducing its first interactive teller machine (ITM) as well as credit cards and a new debit-card
“It’s a big milestone
these days for
a financial institution to be around that long. So we wanted to celebrate with the community.
”
BusinessWest BANKING & FINANCIAL SERVICES
OCTOBER 17, 2022 15