GOLDEN, Colo.—Well-known credit union cannabis banking pioneer, Sundie Seefried, plans to retire from her role as CEO of Safe Harbor Financial at the close of February, the organization said.
Karl Racine, chair of the Safe Harbor’s nominating and governance committee, has been overseeing due diligence activities and advising the executive team and the Governance Committee to evaluate both internal and external candidates as part of the process, Safe Harbor said.
Seefried will serve as co-CEO throughout the transition period.
Safe Harbor signed a three-year executive employment agreement with Terry Mendez to serve as co-CEO and will be appointed CEO upon Seefried’s retirement. Post-transition, Seefried will remain on the board of directors, Safe Harbor stated
“We remain committed to thoughtful succession planning and long-term strategic growth, with the goal of capitalizing on optimizing our market position,” said Seefried. “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.”
“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. We are now looking at the challenges currently facing the industry and determining how we can leverage our people to develop technology that delivers trusted solutions to the marketplace,” said Terry Mendez, co-CEO of Safe Harbor Financial. “I look forward to diving into the business, learning from Sundie and partnering with my fellow operators to deliver value for our shareholders.”
Seefried, as CEO of Partner Colorado CU, began supporting the legal cannabis market in 2014, providing much-needed services at the time. Years later, Seefried, through Partner Colorado, launched Safe Harbor Financial to serve new marijuana companies in the Colorado market. In 2022, Seefried spun off Safe Harbor into a separate business entity and took the company public on the Nasdaq stock exchange.