(From left) Primis Works Program Manager Markeia Johnson, former intern Simone Vinson and third cohort participant Sara Gibson (Photo by Jay Paul)
Launched in 2021, Primis Works — a program of Primis Bank designed to help single mothers develop skills essential to success in the workforce — is about more than training people for jobs.
“There are social services [available] to help single parents, but what social services lack is [instruction in] technical skills, career skills and corporate behavior that feeds into a real job,” says Dennis Zember, Primis Bank president and CEO. “The impact [of employment] on the mothers is real, but the impact on the children can’t be calculated.”
Working with community partners, the bank identifies women who are ready to make a serious commitment, says Primis Works Program Manager Markeia Johnson. “We try to dig deep [by asking], ‘What is your vision? How would this program affect your lifestyle? What difference would it make for you and your children?’” Johnson says. “We have to get their buy-in.”
Once accepted into the four-month program, participants become paid Primis Bank apprentices, with 40-hour work weeks and benefits including health care, if needed, and child care. “They are employees from day one,” Johnson says.
In addition to rotating through the company’s different departments, participants have sessions about resume building, credit restoration, mental health and dressing for success. “It’s our goal to include personal and professional development,” Johnson says.
Sara Gibson joined Primis Works’ third cohort in September 2022. Even though she had some accounting experience, a job counselor encouraged Gibson to apply because it had been several years since she had worked full time.
“I thought, they’re going to train me, they’re going to show me a lot of different jobs within the bank, and [when it’s over], I’ll have money in my pocket and some work experience I can put on my resume,” Gibson says.
But Gibson quickly realized she wanted more: a job with the bank. “They tell you at the beginning, that’s not a guarantee,” she says, “but I knew that Primis was, hands down, the best company I’ve ever worked for. The amount that Primis poured into us was amazing. They grow you as a whole person, not just as an employee.”
Gibson was hired for a position in Primis’ central accounting department and says she’s happy to show her children what she can do outside the home. “They can definitely see the difference in me and the growth I went through,” she says.
Shant’e Williams was a classmate of Gibson’s and agrees the program covered much more than job training. “What made the experience memorable was that we came together as a family, as a team — not in an unprofessional way, but in a way that we knew we cared [about one another],” she says.
Williams joined the program when her youngest child was four months old. At the time, she knew nothing about banking but had some customer service experience. “At that point, I was definitely open to something new,” she says. “I went in with an open mind to learn, and I did learn a lot of new things.”
Williams says she appreciated learning about customer service in a corporate setting as well as other useful skills, such as creating a PowerPoint presentation and public speaking techniques. Personal lessons included time management and self-care.
Although Williams chose not to apply for a full-time position at the program’s end, she is happy with her experience and the program itself. “I’m thankful because they did pour a lot into us; I do have other skills I can add to a resume when I look for positions in the future,” she says. “And the mission behind [Primis Works] was to create such a program to support single moms and try to employ them, and provide career experience and financial stability.”
That is absolutely the goal, says CEO Zember, who openly shares his own family’s story with Primis Works participants. Zember’s father was raised by a single mother, who was offered an apartment and other support from neighbors after her husband abandoned the family. Like many women of the era, she had no college degree, no technical training. But those neighbors — whom Zember grew up knowing as Aunt Lindy and Uncle Jeff — offered critical aid. “They were strangers who really had no reason to, but decided to step in,” Zember says. “They helped my grandmother get training and figure out how to stand on her own two feet.”
Now, he says, Primis Works exists to help other single mothers who need help. “We want to bring them in, teach them, give them all the training … whatever we’ve got to do to position them to succeed. We hope other institutions start seeing this as a model. I hope one day that’s what this can be for other employers.”
Primis Works’ fifth cohort begins Aug. 7.
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