On July 1, Sundie Seefried, longtime CEO of Partner Colorado Credit Union, makes a huge career change. On that day she resigns the credit union job to become the CEO of Safe Harbor Financial, LLC, a Partner Colorado subsidiary formed for the purpose of handling cannabis related banking.
When Safe Harbor was created in 2015, it was a groundbreaking institution for conducting compliance based banking that would satisfy regulators.
Safe Harbor has become a big, consuming business and, said Seefried, it's helped put credit unions into the conversation of cannabis banking - and, increasingly, that is a conversation that is being heard as more states legalize marijuana. Included are multiple big states: California, Washington, Michigan, and Illinois. In only a handful of states is marijuana fully illegal.
In this podcast Seefried talks about the process of validating the cash that flows through a marijuana business. She also talks about the early days of Safe Harbor - and the hostility and ridicule she faced.
Who's laughing now?
By any measure, Sundie Seefried has emerged as the queen of cannabis banking.
What would her father, a Baptist, missionary think about this? We ask her.
Just as we ask about that uncommon first name, Sundie.
We ask about being perceived as a maverick in a credit union industry that does not always revere its mavericks.
The one question she is asked that she doesn't answer is the question, are there plans to take Safe Harbor public?
Her podcast with CUInsight is mentioned. Here's a link.
Reference is made to how much it costs to open a Dairy Queen franchise - and surely you want to know how that came up. Listen for it.
Earlier CU 2.0 cannabis related podcast guests include Paul Stull, also multiple guests on two long cannabis podcasts, episode 20 and an early unnumbered show.
Listen up. This is a fun episode.
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