CHARTER OAK HAD RECORD-SETTING YEAR IN 2019

Waterford — Charter Oak Federal Credit Union reported strong financial results for 2019, its 10th consecutive year as the region’s top residential mortgage lender, setting records for donations to charitable and nonprofit groups and annual bonuses to its Gold Rewards members.

“Charter Oak had a great year in 2019, and this growth reflects the successful financial course that we followed in 2019 and continue to follow this year,” Brian Orenstein, Charter Oak’s president and chief executive officer, told members last month during Charter Oak’s 81st annual meeting.

The meeting was held via conference call due to ongoing health and safety concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I want you to know that not only is Charter Oak physically safe, it is financially safe, strong and very secure,” Orenstein told members. “And we have ample resources to weather this crisis in a strong and safe manner.”

Charter Oak remained fully operational during the early months of the pandemic through the use of its driveup lanes, full-service Contact Center, eBanking offerings and 24/7 ATM services. On June 8, it reopened its branch lobbies with numerous safety precautions in place, including requiring face coverings, directional signs, social-distance markers, hand sanitizing stations and protective Plexiglas shields for its tellers, branch managers and service representatives.

Orenstein reported that Charter Oak’s assets at the end of 2019 totaled $1.18 billion, up more than 5% from the previous year. Charitable contributions topped $530,000 and annual $100 bonuses paid to Gold Rewards members exceeded $618,000.

During the meeting, members elected Barbara “Brandy” Gregg and Paul Filippetti to new three-year terms on Charter Oak’s seven-member board of directors. Gregg, who serves as vice chairman of the board, is a longtime resident of southeastern Connecticut and has been involved with credit unions since 1980. The first woman to serve on the board, she has been a board member since 1989.

Filippetti, the board secretary, has served as a member of Charter Oak’s Supervisory Committee since January 2012 and was appointed to the board in January 2017. He has extensive financial services industry experience and is a partner with Hoyt, Filippetti & Malaghan LLC, an accounting firm with offices in Groton and Westerly. As of June 30, 2020, Charter Oak had assets of more than $1.3 billion.