ABA Banking Journal
No Result
View All Result
  • Topics
    • Ag Banking
    • Commercial Lending
    • Community Banking
    • Compliance and Risk
    • Cybersecurity
    • Economy
    • Human Resources
    • Insurance
    • Legal
    • Mortgage
    • Mutual Funds
    • Payments
    • Policy
    • Retail and Marketing
    • Tax and Accounting
    • Technology
    • Wealth Management
  • Newsbytes
  • Podcasts
  • Magazine
    • Subscribe
    • Advertise
    • Magazine Archive
    • Newsletter Archive
    • Podcast Archive
    • Sponsored Content Archive
SUBSCRIBE
ABA Banking Journal
  • Topics
    • Ag Banking
    • Commercial Lending
    • Community Banking
    • Compliance and Risk
    • Cybersecurity
    • Economy
    • Human Resources
    • Insurance
    • Legal
    • Mortgage
    • Mutual Funds
    • Payments
    • Policy
    • Retail and Marketing
    • Tax and Accounting
    • Technology
    • Wealth Management
  • Newsbytes
  • Podcasts
  • Magazine
    • Subscribe
    • Advertise
    • Magazine Archive
    • Newsletter Archive
    • Podcast Archive
    • Sponsored Content Archive
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result
ADVERTISEMENT
Home Retail and Marketing

Skowhegan Savings Bank’s Career Prep Initiative

September 5, 2018
Reading Time: 3 mins read

In a speech today, Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard acknowledged the challenges facing the financial industry as banks work to partner with fintech companies and innovate to better serve their customers.

By Hoa Nguyen

A labor shortage in the United States is reaching a critical point this year—and the issue is particularly acute in Maine. With a median age of 45, the state’s population is the oldest in the nation. Maine is now facing a workforce crisis: this aging population makes up most of its skilled labor, according to a December 2017 task force report on economy and workforce.

A local bank in Skowhegan, Maine, is trying to help alleviate this issue.

Connecting youth with potential employers.

Since 2015, Skowhegan Savings Bank has partnered with the nonprofit Jobs for Maine’s Graduates to implement a unique career development program for local youth called the Skowhegan Savings Career Prep Initiative.

The initiative aims at promoting financial literacy for the youth—and engaging students with potential employers while they’re still in school. Students in Maine’s Somerset and Franklin Counties have the chance to gain hands-on experience in their areas of interest through job shadows, internships, business tours and mentorships.

Having completed its fourth year, Skowhegan Savings has connected 390 businesses with 4,500 students across the two counties. “For us it was important to partner with someone who understood and complemented our mission, to make our communities a better place to live and work,” says John Witherspoon, president and CEO of the bank. “We have been focused on trying to make an impact in our communities and less on getting credit for it.”

Addressing the big picture issues.

In addition to promoting banking careers, the program aims to raise awareness about financial literacy. Toward that end, partners have developed a financial literacy work group that brings together educators and employees from the banking sector in order to gather more expertise to better serve the local youth.

Participating students have also pitched in on the effort. Students at Somerset Career and Technical Center in Skowhegan, for example, did their own research on careers, wages, housing cost, transportation and insurance costs, among other expenses. All of this research ended up laying the building blocks for a “Financial Reality Fair”—a student-led financial literacy fair that spoke to the needs of students. “They took complete ownership and made the information relevant to them in their school and their community,” says Tracie Travers, workforce development manager at JMG. “Area businesses and bank employees volunteered at this event and noticed the increase in number of student participants as well as student and teacher engagement.”

By facilitating financial literacy and career fairs, banks give local youth their first opportunity to interact with employees in the financial industry. Through Skowhegan Savings Bank’s partnership with JMG, bank employees have participated in multiple programs—and the feedback has always been positive. It’s the interactions with the students that keep the volunteers coming back.

Interested in implementing a similar program for your community?

Consider these suggestions from Skowhegan Savings Bank.

  • For an easier start-up, consider partnering with an existing program that has a track record of success as measured by qualitative and quantitative data.
  • Be willing to collaborate with outside individuals or institutions—even if you compete with them in other arenas. The competition may come into play when students are choosing which bank to work for. But it will take the collaboration of many institutions to improve the field as a whole.
  • Develop and maintain a common goal. Effective communication, including active listening, is important.
  • Assess the communities you work in. Speak with educators, businesses, and non-profits to know the strengths and opportunities for growth. Sharing resources cuts down on duplicated efforts. It also increases efficiency while decreasing time and money in the long run.

The ABA Foundation provides resources for banks tackling issues in their local communities—to drive growth, revitalize neighborhoods and businesses, and enable millions of Americans to achieve their goals.

One of the Foundation’s resources is its Get Smart About Credit program. Now in its 16th year, Get Smart About Credit is a national campaign of volunteer bankers who work with youth to raise awareness about the importance of credit. This year’s Get Smart About Credit Day is October 18, 2018.

Register here for the upcoming Get Smart About Credit webinar, Thursday, September 13 at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Hoa Nguyen is a communications intern with the American Bankers Association. LinkedIn.  [email protected]

ADVERTISEMENT
Tags: Financial literacy
ShareTweetPin

Related Posts

Marketing automation drives value for bank marketers

Retail and Marketing
June 23, 2025

Automation can assist bank marketers with lead analysis, scoring and pipeline reporting when built into a bank's CRM or automation platform.

Is deepfake technology shifting the gold standard of authentication?

Will fraud prevention ever be autonomous?

Technology
June 17, 2025

Anti-fraud systems are learning to anticipate fraud rather than merely react to it. Better anticipatory abilities inch systems closer to full automation.

Podcast: Old National’s Jim Ryan on the things that really matter

Podcast: Old National’s Jim Ryan on the things that really matter

ABA Banking Journal Podcast
June 12, 2025

Jim Ryan has led Old National Bank to 250% asset growth. On the podcast, the ABA American Bankers Council chair discusses the bank's growing profile and footprint, his views on deposit insurance reform and the experience of leading...

Bank community engagement: Yes, you can help bank veterans

Bank community engagement: Yes, you can help bank veterans

Retail and Marketing
June 9, 2025

AMBA partners with the ABA Foundation to recruit banks to provide our nation’s veterans access to safe, reliable and flexible financial products and services.

FHFA finalizes strategic plan for 2022-2026

Marketing Money Podcast: Why leadership matters more than likes

Retail and Marketing
June 6, 2025

For bank marketers, the value of being strategic is great.

Looking for trouble?

Podcast: What bankers need to know about ‘First Amendment audits’

ABA Banking Journal Podcast
June 5, 2025

"First Amendment auditors" have long tried to provoke public officials into stopping them from recording in public settings. Now, some auditors are targeting banks.

NEWSBYTES

House passes ABA-backed ‘trigger leads’ bill

June 23, 2025

Fed removes reputational risk from bank exams

June 23, 2025

OCC: Bank trading revenue $15B in Q1 2025

June 23, 2025

SPONSORED CONTENT

AI Compliance and Regulation: What Financial Institutions Need to Know

Unlocking Deposit Growth: How Financial Institutions Can Activate Data for Precision Cross-Sell

June 1, 2025
Choosing the Right Account Opening Platform: 10 Key Considerations for Long-Term Success

Choosing the Right Account Opening Platform: 10 Key Considerations for Long-Term Success

April 25, 2025
Outsourcing: Getting to Go/No-Go

Outsourcing: Getting to Go/No-Go

April 5, 2025
Six Payments Trends Driving the Future of Transactions

Six Payments Trends Driving the Future of Transactions

March 15, 2025

PODCASTS

Podcast: Staying close to clients amid tariff-driven volatility

June 18, 2025

Podcast: Old National’s Jim Ryan on the things that really matter

June 12, 2025

Podcast: What bankers need to know about ‘First Amendment audits’

June 5, 2025
ADVERTISEMENT

American Bankers Association
1333 New Hampshire Ave NW
Washington, DC 20036
1-800-BANKERS (800-226-5377)
www.aba.com
About ABA
Privacy Policy
Contact ABA

ABA Banking Journal
About ABA Banking Journal
Media Kit
Advertising
Subscribe

© 2025 American Bankers Association. All rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Topics
    • Ag Banking
    • Commercial Lending
    • Community Banking
    • Compliance and Risk
    • Cybersecurity
    • Economy
    • Human Resources
    • Insurance
    • Legal
    • Mortgage
    • Mutual Funds
    • Payments
    • Policy
    • Retail and Marketing
    • Tax and Accounting
    • Technology
    • Wealth Management
  • Newsbytes
  • Podcasts
  • Magazine
    • Subscribe
    • Advertise
    • Magazine Archive
    • Newsletter Archive
    • Podcast Archive
    • Sponsored Content Archive

© 2025 American Bankers Association. All rights reserved.