NEWPORT NEWS, Va.– BayPort Credit Union has been awarded a Diamond Award by America’s Credit Unions’ Marketing and Business Development Council.
BayPort won in the new Public Relations category for the promotion of its $500,000, multi-year transformational grant called Accelerating Change Together (ACT), which was launched in partnership with two other leading corporations based in Newport News, Va.
BayPort said it was proud to develop all the credit union's communications, public relations, media initiatives, and outreach in-house. In the inaugural year, the ACT Grant's focus was education and workforce development, answering the regional call to build a workforce pipeline for young people to enter the emerging career fields of renewable energy technologies.
In 2023, BayPort was recognized with a CUNA Diamond Award in the Website category for the development and execution of the ACT Grant initiative. BayPort conceptualized, designed, and launched the ACT Grant website internally, as well as the grant application and judging process.
In late 2022, the $500,000 ACT Grant was awarded to the Virginia Beach Education Foundation to support the Virginia Beach City Public Schools' addition of a new two-year, half-day Advanced Technology Center Renewable Energy Technologies program. In late 2023, the Virginia Beach Education Foundation's winning idea came to life. BayPort has since celebrated the official opening of the new program, welcoming 45 students into its inaugural class, marking an exciting day for innovation and growth in Hampton Roads – with BayPort helping to lead that charge.