Season’s greetings, Nya:wëh Sgë:nö’,
The holiday season is upon us and we’re quickly approaching the end of 2022. I’m looking forward to working on some new projects into the 2023.
December is a busy time for the fiscal department as they work on year end closings. With the transition of new Councillors and Executives, an fiscal orientation update was presented on the 2023 budget. An overview of current fiscal projects, operations and funding obligations were part of the presentation.
FEMA funding applications were submitted under the CARES Act COVID 19 Grant funding. Currently three of the projects were funded at this time. A fourth application was also submitted over to the Bluestone test kits.
Seneca Nation Banking RFP Process
Pursuant to a directive from the Executives and Council in April 2022 to review the Nation’s banking relationships, the Nation hired a tribal consulting firm, Financial Services Advisory Group (FSA). FSA was retained to work with the Executives, Council and other Nation staff members on a request for proposal (RFP) with banking institutions to identify which banking institutions best fit the complex financial and banking needs of the Nation. Below is a timeline summary of the Nation’s process for identifying the appropriate banking institution partner:
- April 6, 2022: Initial meeting with FSA to discuss the banking RFP process
- May 10, 2022: Executives and Council met with Key Bank management to discuss ongoing banking issues.
- July 11, 2022: FSA formally engaged to assist with the banking RFP and evaluation, including identification of potential applicants with the experience and scale to serve the Seneca Nation.
- July 22, 2022: RFP issued to three large financial institutions, including Key Bank, that met the parameters set by FSA.
- August 12, 2022: RFP responses received from two Banks. One bank withdrew due to limitations in meeting the RFP requirements.
- August 31, 2022: Two responding banks presented their proposals to FSA and Seneca Nation.
- September 12, 2022: FSA provided recommendations and presented to the Executives, Council and other Nation staff members working on this process.
- September 15, 2022: FSA provided a final report with the following recommendation: While both financial institutions have the capability to provide services to the Nation, Key Bank’s proposals offered a significant advantage in location and cost. Estimated additional income from Key Bank to the Nation based on the earnings credit rate over the competing bank was estimated to exceed $2.5 million per year. In addition, Key Bank’s internal process changes provide the additional controls to process legal orders and judgements that will add transparency and communication to the Nation for which the other Bank did not address in their proposal.
- November 12, 2022: FSA presented their recommendation for the Nation to retain Key Bank at the regular session of Council.
Stay safe, stay strong,
Matthew B. Pagels
