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Early closings, late openings, overflowing piles of snow in parking lots, and continuous shoveling of the walkways? For many businesses in Maine, including credit unions, that has been the scenario for the past few weeks. Since the middle of January, nearly six feet of snow has fallen on many parts of the state, causing credit unions to go into near-continuous "storm-mode" to deal with the winter weather.
"Our first priority is the safety of our employees. Because of the timing of these storms, happening during the daytime on weekdays, we've had to adjust our hours by closing early, delayed openings or, in the case of the recent blizzard, not opening at all; the last month has been very unusual. Additionally, we are committing significant resources to cleaning our parking lots and walk ways, something that seems to be an ongoing process this year. Thankfully, remote technology and other options are enabling our members to stay connected and conduct transactions no matter what the weather," explained Scott Chretien, President/CEO of York County FCU.
John Murphy, President of your League, praised Maine's credit unions for "having plans in place for weather-related issues and for the significant investment in technology and multiple delivery channels made by many Maine credit unions to provide uninterrupted service and access to their members. In addition, your League and Synergent have also been affected by the storms but, through proper planning and allocation of resources for business continuity, our employees have been able to serve the needs of our credit unions and their members, with little or no disruptions."
From all indications, there is still lots of winter weather ahead with forecasts for parts of Maine calling for up to two feet of snow this weekend. Keep the snow shovels handy.