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Sundie Seefried, the former Partner Colorado Credit Union CEO who helped it launch a public company for cannabis banking, announced Wednesday she will be resigning as CEO of that company in a month.
Safe Harbor Financial said Seefried became co-CEO Wednesday beside Terry Mendez, 49, who will be appointed CEO upon Seefried’s retirement. Seefried, whose age was listed at 62 in the company’s April 2024 proxy, will remain on the company’s board.
“We remain committed to thoughtful succession planning and long-term strategic growth, with the goal of capitalizing on optimizing our market position,” Seefried said. “Terry’s experience in business expansion, transformation and strategic advisory will provide a valuable perspective as we explore ways to enhance our operations and maximize shareholder value. I look forward to working closely with him.”
Seefried served as president/CEO of Partner Colorado from 2001 to 2021.
In 2015, Seefried established Safe Harbor Private Banking as a compliance-based banking program of the credit union serving the cannabis industry. Two years later, she created a complementary CUSO called Safe Harbor Services, LLC to guide credit unions and banks through the complicated processes of creating and maintaining a cannabis banking service within the bounds of laws and regulations.
She stepped down as the credit union’s CEO in June 2021 to lead the company that preceded Safe Harbor.
Partner Colorado spun off its cannabis CUSO to a public company called Safe Harbor Financial (SHFS) in September 2022, and the credit union recorded a gain of about $50 million on the deal in its fourth quarter and owned just over half its stock.
However, Partner Colorado lost $64 million in 2023, or a -9.63% return on average assets, most of which it attributed to the spinoff.
NCUA reports uploaded this week showed Partner Colorado Credit Union of Arvada, Colo. ($623.2 million in assets, 33,318 members) lost $353,050 in 2024's fourth quarter, reducing its income for the full year to $1.64 million, or a 0.64% return on average assets.
Safe Harbor lost $35.1 million in 2022 and $17.3 million in 2023. It earned $3.3 million in the first nine months of 2024.
Mendez was previously vice president of finance and global chief accounting officer for Hitachi Vantara, a subsidiary of Hitachi, overseeing 52 countries. The Safe Harbor Financial news release said he "served as the CEO of both single-state and multi-state cannabis operators successfully leading turnaround efforts.”
The company filed an employment agreement with the SEC Monday that said Mendez will receive a base salary of $360,000 and is eligible to receive an annual bonus and participate in the company’s long term incentive plan.
“At a time when most financial institutions were unwilling to work with the cannabis industry, Safe Harbor emerged as a pioneer, providing essential banking and financial services to the sector for the past decade,” Mendez said.
Contact Jim DuPlessis at [email protected].
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