Teller

Luse Gorman served as legal counsel to Westar Federal Credit Union in its merger with Beginnings Credit Union. May 5, 2026 On May 1, 2026, Westar Federal Credit Union, Camillus, New York, completed its merger with and into Beginnings Credit Union, Ithica, New York. Following the merger, Beginnings Credit Union has over $1.51 billion in assets and serves over 77,000 members across 14 branch locations. Luse Gorman served as legal counsel to Westar Federal Credit Union in the transaction. The Luse Gorman team consisted of Jeff Cardone, Brendan Saxon, and Babette Schwartz. Luse Gorman has acted as counsel on more than 150 bank and credit union M&A transactions during the past six years and more bank and credit union M&A transactions than any other law firm in the nation over the past 20 years. To learn more about its mergers and acquisitions practice, please visit its website.

ESM credit union celebrates 20 years. EAST SYRACUE MINOA CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT - East Syracuse Minoa Central High School's student-led credit union, the Spartan Branch, celebrated its 20-year anniversary on Oct. 15. Surrounded by people who started the branch and some of those who keep it going strong two decades later, ESM Superintendent Dr. Donna DeSiato said that it was a "bold, innovative and forward-thinking step" to form the financial literacy program, which at the time of its founding in 2005 was the first and only student-run credit union in Central New York and one of the first in the entire state. The branch at the Fremont Road high school was originally sponsored by ESM-North Syracuse Federal Credit Union, which has since merged with Beginnings Credit Union, the cooperative financial institution that supports the student program to this day. While learning about money management and gaining valuable hands-on career experience, the student volunteers perform the same functions as the employees of the credit union assisting them, handling real dollar bills with every transaction as they serve staff and other students who bank at the fully operational branch. "We want to celebrate today the vision and the countless number of hours that students, staff and community and our partners at Beginnings have put into making this a successful journey," DeSiato said. Acknowledging the Spartan Branch had an impact on hundreds of past ESM graduates and current students when it comes to their understanding of finances, DeSiato said the "vibrant" program has been an incubation hub for leadership, responsibility, entrepreneurship, marketing and customer service. "They're carrying these lessons that they've learned and moving forward into the years beyond," DeSiato said at the celebratory Wednesday morning reception, adding that the dedicated commitment of everyone involved has given students in grades nine through 12 the skills, confidence and preparation to thrive in a "complex financial world." The vice president of member advocacy for Beginnings Bill Sweeney, who was CEO of the ESM-NS credit union when the Spartan Branch was launched, said it's been "a privilege" to collaborate with the school district on the enterprise all these years. The school's money and banking classes rotate in as teams to participate at the branch, where Beginnings' professionals offer supervision and "the guardrails" but "hand the keys over" to the students. Sweeney said the students then become mentors themselves by sharing their takeaways with the younger kids at the elementary and middle schools, sometimes reading grade-appropriate books to them like "The Berenstain Bears' Trouble with Money." There's also a student board of directors that meets to go over promotional efforts to drive more people to the branch. "We give the structure and the expertise, but it's the students who've really made this program something special," Sweeney said. "The students provide the energy and enthusiasm and direction." The in-school branch is open Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 10:45 a.m. to 12 p.m. each day. Throughout those time windows, the students help with withdrawals, deposits and the cashing of checks just as a teller would. During the anniversary gathering, ESM's business department leaders and administrators were thanked for believing in the program, as was the department's founding chair Brenda Almonte, who was there that morning as a special guest. DeSiato and Sweeney were also honored with the surprise gift of framed photos showing them cutting the ribbon for the Spartan Branch 20 years earlier. Laura Edick, one of the first students in the program, is now its financial literacy manager as an employee of Beginnings Credit Union. Edick said having it come "full circle" and getting the opportunity to both oversee the Spartan Branch 20 years later and witness its growth has been "exciting" and something for which she's "so thankful." The framework of ESM's student credit union branch was replicated at Cicero-North Syracuse High School in 2015, also with Beginnings, and other school districts and companies from other parts of the state and even out of state have toured ESM's branch to see how it works and to seek guidance on how to set up their own.