As we move into another new year, I am reminded of how grateful I am for you — your membership, your support and your continued trust in us as your financial partner. I also want to extend my gratitude to our Board of Directors, giving generously of their time and resources. Our Board has played an intergral role in our growth and transformation as a credit union. They have served you, our membership, with an emphasis on integrity and strength in the face of some very trying times.

During our December meeting just a few weeks ago, each of our board members were gifted a commemorative book to honor their decades of volunteer service to the credit union. The book is filled with beautiful pictures and tells the story of how our organization grew from a small office at the Chemstrand Nylon Plant into who we are today — an established, regional financial institution serving nearly 80,000 members across three states.

One anecdote in the book really stood out and gets to the heart of why our credit union was founded. It was about the credit union’s decision to make a small loan to one of their co-workers at the plant so he could buy his daughter a pair of glasses. It was a simple transaction and not a lot of money, but you can imagine how valuable that loan was to the member and his family. That’s why the credit union was started. To make small loans to members for the things they needed in life, whether it was a refrigerator, the family car or a pair of glasses.

Reading these types of stories and seeing the pictures of the ledger machines in our first location at the plant was more than a nostalgic trip down memory lane. It was a reminder that no matter how banking changes and grows, this credit union was — and will continue to be — centered around the needs of our members.

This is our commitment to you as we turn the page to a new year and another
chapter for our credit union. Thank you for trusting Gulf Winds to be your
financial partner. Happy New Year!

Chris J. Rutledge,
President & CEO