Sean Daly is the CEO and president of People’s Credit Union, a $700 million financial institution headquartered in Middletown. Daly’s background includes leading startups and turnaround companies in technology, telecommunications, fintech and professional services.
Before he was appointed the head of the credit union in 2019, Daly served as chief financial officer and head of technology for Camden National Bank, a $2.5 billion community bank in Camden, Maine. Additionally, he has worked at Fortune 500 companies handling large-scale mergers, debt capital markets, and finance, tech and operations departments. He is a graduate of Bryant University, where he earned his degree in business administration.
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PBN: Since becoming the head of People’s Credit Union, what has been your focus?
DALY: Although we’ve had to deal with the pandemic, refinance boom and challenging economic environment over the past four years, we maintained our focus on executing our strategic plan. The work includes building a strong leadership team, enhancing our culture and staff development, implementing technology for a better employee and member experience, and reexamining our commitment to the community. Although this has required a lot of effort and change, I am proud to be part of a team that has collaborated and executed so well.
PBN: What are you doing to build a strong company culture?
DALY: It starts with having a strong human resources leader who has a voice as part of the team driving overall business strategy. From there, we are focused on developing employees and leaders; building collaboration throughout the organization; providing clear role accountability across the organization; delivering transparent communications that provide clarity and focus; and designing effective recognition and rewards beyond just compensation. All these important initiatives are aligned with our core values and purpose, which we adapted to better describe our culture and aspirations.
PBN: How much emphasis have you placed on technology for People’s members and employees?
DALY: We have made a significant investment in technology. We started by moving our technology infrastructure to the cloud, which improves our capabilities and resilience, as well as adding a valuable partner in Amazon Web Services. From there we have invested in data warehouse and analytics capabilities and implemented new online banking, consumer lending, and digital member service platforms.
With technology rapidly changing, there are always additional capabilities to implement. We are also more reliant on our partners for technology that impacts employee engagement and member service, so we are hyper-focused on strong partner relationships.
PBN: What are you doing in the realms of community engagement and community impact?
DALY: As a credit union, we need to have a positive impact on the communities we serve. With our size, we are limited to the financial resources we can provide. We are looking to innovate our community impact approach by leveraging our talented team, strong balance sheet, and target organizations that have either unique needs and/or impact in the communities we serve.
PBN: How does People’s Credit Union help drive economic development in Rhode Island?
DALY: As a business leader in the state, I have a responsibility to improve economic development. I believe that Rhode Island has a tremendous opportunity to thrive economically with its unique resources. We have excellent universities, a thriving arts scene and strong industries that include marine, alternative energy and defense.
We also have an advantage with our proximity to other major cities. I have been fortunate to work with impactful nonprofits, including the University of Rhode Island Research Foundation and 401Tech Bridge, whose teams are tirelessly driving to improve economic opportunities for our state and its citizens.
