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From left to right: Dereck Glaser, Director and Resident Blacksmithing Instructor, New England School of Metalwork; James Moreau, Loan Manager Community Credit Union; Betsy Sibley, VP of Marketing, Community Credit Union; Jen Hogan, President/CEO, Community Credit Union; Stephen Lyons III, Student; Dan Dunning, Instructor, Quinn Gerrish, Welding Program Manager/Instructor, New England School of Metalwork; and Joseph Chretien, Student.
In 2020, Community CU and the New England School of Metalwork began a dialogue about workforce development. The school communicated how difficult it was for their students to find financing for their welding program.
To help the school address this issue, Community CU began offering financial education sessions as a benefit to students in the program. Then the pandemic hit, forcing shutdowns and restrictions at both the school and the credit union, however, that wasn’t the end of their partnership.
The two organizations have been collaborating on a new, mutually beneficial initiative that has been rolled out to students in the first welding cohort of 2022. Students enrolled in the 13-week program now have access to a Career Advancement loan through Community CU and two financial education sessions.
This partnership is just one way Community CU is carrying out the credit union People Helping People mission in their local community and supporting critical workforce development.