Dear Members,
I am pleased to report that Windsor Federal Savings had a strong 2017, earning $2.6 million for the year. Our Association incurred a one-time expense as a result of the new tax reform law passed in December; otherwise, our earnings would have been even higher. Our net interest income increased over $1.2 million from the previous year and our assets grew to $479 million with capital of $55 million. Our regulator, the Office of the Comptroller of Currency (“OCC”), defines our Association as “well capitalized”. At the close of the fiscal year, our total capital ratio was 16.09%; our tier 1 leverage capital ratio was 11.82%. These results keep us well positioned among our peers.
Suffield, the newest Windsor Federal Savings branch office, ended the fiscal year with over $33 million in deposits. This branch growth exceeded our expectations and became the catalyst for Windsor Federal to open its Suffield Loan Center - not only in the same neighborhood, but also right next door to our branch office. Currently four members of our commercial lending team are conducting business out of this new loan office location. We welcomed Mike Grandfield, a seasoned commercial banker who is well respected among business and lending professionals, to our commercial lending team. Mike has an office in our Suffield Loan Center and is spearheading our commercial efforts in Western Massachusetts. Our commercial lending team originated over $78 million in new commercial loans – a record year! Our cash management team also completed another productive year; we recently added “positive pay” and will soon be adding “lock box” to our suite of products and services.
It is our hope that the tax cut enacted in December will help to jump start our local economies. We were pleased to share our tax cut savings with our staff through a onetime bonus for our non-executive employees and raising the minimum wage for all full time employees to $15 per hour. Windsor Federal Savings was one of the first in our community to take this initiative. It is our intent to invest the balance of the tax savings in infrastructure upgrades to our systems and facilities. We would be pleased to have other local companies follow our lead by investing their savings in their people and the communities they serve.
The guiding principle of Windsor Federal Savings is “neighbors helping neighbors” and this year we felt the need to extend our reach beyond our local neighborhoods. The hurricanes that occurred during the Fall of 2017 had a devastating impact on a number of areas of our country. I am very proud that our employees donated, and the Association matched, over $4,000 for hurricane relief. We continued to be focused on our local communities and provided financial support to over 200 varied organizations and donated more than 4,000 employee hours to many worthwhile causes.
Windsor Federal Savings has played an important part in the growth and development of its communities for more than 82 years. As the only mutual institution headquartered in Hartford County, we are laser focused on the needs of our customers, employees, and communities and our business runs accordingly. We appreciate the continued trust that you place in us.
George W. Hermann, President & CEO