Early Pot Banking Pioneer Plans Credit Union Exit to Head New Marijuana Business

Sundie Seefried, one of the early pioneers who delivered financial services for Colorado’s cannabis businesses, said Thursday she will be ending her 20-year tenure as president/CEO of the $520 million Partner Colorado Credit Union to become CEO of Safe Harbor Financial, LLC.

The new business was created after the credit union’s board of directors decided to combine its cannabis banking division, Safe Harbor Private Banking, with its CUSO, Safe Harbor Services.

The combination of the two entities is expected to increase efficiencies, position SHF for future growth opportunities, attract potential investors and create a unified brand to facilitate marketing efforts, according to the Arvada-based credit union.

“This transition will allow me to give my undivided attention to all matters concerning cannabis banking and the expansion of the program,” Seefried, who will step down July 1, said. “Partner Colorado will be majority owner of Safe Harbor Financial, LLC, and all cannabis-related funds will still flow through the credit union.”

Linda Head, who chairs Partner Colorado’s board of directors, said SHF will be poised to respond to and manage the market and regulatory forces in a rapidly growing and evolving industry.

According to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, the number of credit unions serving the marijuana industry declined from 185 at the end of the first quarter of 2020 to 175 at the end of the third quarter. Among banks, the numbers also have declined from 525 to 502. Fourth quarter numbers were not available. However, the total number of financial institutions has steadily increased since June 2014 when 33 credit unions and 93 banks were serving the marijuana businesses, according to FinCEN’s Marijuana Banking Update reports.

In 2015, a year after Colorado became the first state to legalize recreational marijuana, Seefried established Safe Harbor Private Banking as a compliance-based banking program for the cannabis industry and authored a book about it in 2016.

Safe Harbor Private Banking said it managed more than $3 billion in cannabis-related funds last year.

Partner Colorado’s fee income has soared from $5.5 million at the end of 2015 to $12.9 million at the end of 2020, according to NCUA financial performance reports.

That fee income is generated from higher fees the credit union charges cannabis companies for banking services to safely manage their high cash flows and to ensure full compliance with marijuana regulations and oversight.

In 2017, Partner Colorado’s CUSO Safe Harbor Services was opened under Seefried’s leadership to license the Safe Harbor cannabis banking program to other financial institutions nationally. Today, Safe Harbor Services has 10 affiliated financial institutions in five states.

Partner Colorado’s board has retained D. Hilton Associates to search for and hire a new president/CEO.