May 10, 2018
On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast, sponsored by Windstream Enterprise, Connecticut banker George Hermann discusses his bank's in-school branch program. Windsor Federal Savings, a mutual thrift in northern Connecticut, has two locations in minority-majority high schools in its local market that are staffed by students, and the program has "evolved in ways that we didn't expect it to," says Hermann, who is Windsor Federal's president and CEO and the treasurer of the American Bankers Association. "We initially did this for financial literacy. What it's turned out to be is job training, introducing students to careers in banking."
Sixty-five students have gone through the program thus far, and Windsor Federal has hired 22 of them at different points. "Some have gone all the way through and worked full time," Hermann explains. One student completed community college and a four-year degree while working for Windsor Federal and now splits his time between accounting and credit program. With a tuition reimbursement benefit and a student loan repayment benefit provided by ABA-endorsed Gradifi, "we're really focused on getting people to come and to stay," he says.
Listen as Hermann also discusses community engagement, mutuality and what community banks and craft brewers have in common. Read more about Hermann here.