cPort Receives the Champion Award
On Wednesday, June 9, the Portland Regional Chamber awarded cPort Credit Union the Champion Award. Presented to us by UNUM, this award recognizes our efforts to strengthen the foundation of the Portland region through our work to promote racial and social justice. The award was given during the Portland Regional Chamber’s Imagine Portland virtual celebration to honor the individuals and organizations that have made a difference to the Portland region. The entire production can be watched online.
Both Gene Ardito, President and CEO, and Alicia Roberts, Vice President of Human Resources, spoke during the event. Gene explained, “I have the perspective of living in Portland for 30 years. This is a wonderful, vibrant community and it has changed in those 30 years; it has become richer because of the diversity that the community now provides. We really are focused on being inclusive.”
Highlighted during the presentation were our financial literacy work and involvement in programs geared to Maine’s immigrants and refugees, such as The Indus Fund (making microloans available to small business owners within the immigrant community), along with our efforts to promote diversity and inclusion within our own organization. We strive to do this through recruitment and retention efforts within underrepresented racial and ethnic groups. Alicia shared her Human Resources perspective, “For cPort, this award is truly meaningful because for us, this is about ensuring the economic possibilities for all in supporting our community with their banking needs. At cPort, we really think that it is important that our employee base is a reflection of our membership, so that when people come into our branches, they truly do feel welcome, and they feel that there’s someone there they can relate to.”
We are honored to be the recipient of the 2021 Champion award. Gene finished with “We are humbled and grateful for the recognition of the good work that we try to do day in and day out. I’m so proud of the employees at cPort and what they do for our members, our community, and for each other.”