Pentucket Bank and United Way partner on behalf of the Merrimack Valley

Scott Cote is the President and CEO of Pentucket Bank, based in Haverhill but with branches in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. He has been a committed supporter of United Way since his first payroll deduction almost thirty years ago. And he knows what works. The blossoming relationship between Pentucket Bank and United Way is proof of that.

In 1978 he served as a loaned officer and throughout his professional arc has brought with him a passionate endorsement of United Way and its work in the community.

“I’m a big proponent of United Way,” he says. “They are an efficient organization. Their selection process features regular citizens and local businesspeople, going through a process to identify the biggest needs and what agencies are doing to address them.”

For Pentucket’s annual campaign, Cote and his staff pull out all the stops. He uses incentives to encourage giving and participation, sets goals each year with the challenge to eclipse them, and matches gifts on the corporate level.

He also ensures that his employees are given a chance to feel the impact of their gifts. He has found remarkable success through video presentations, a mechanism that he believes can really move people.

“There is such an appeal to see the people that have been impacted,” he says.

The effectiveness is obvious; Cote says that 95% of staff that attend the United Way presentation give on the same day. This year’s gifts were up over 12%.

“As a community bank our mission is reach out to the community support the agencies doing all the good work out there,” Cote says. “United Way is a partner in that respect.”