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Georgia United Credit Union partners with Junior Achievement of Georgia
DULUTH, GA (May 8, 2015) — Georgia United Credit Union (Georgia United) is proud to announce a new partnership with Junior Achievement (JA) of Georgia to educate Gwinnett County students about workforce readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy through experiential, hands-on programs. Georgia United will sponsor a BizTown® storefront, or business, at the new JA Gwinnett Discovery Center.
BizTown is one of two interactive venues within JA Gwinnett Discovery Center—JA Finance Park is the other venue.BizTown is a simulation of a town with community businesses. Storefront sponsors can be any type of business that participates in the economy, such as financial services, retail establishments, media, utilities, manufacturing, print services, or other professional services.
Debbie Smith, president and CEO of Georgia United Credit Union stated, “This partnership is a natural fit. As one of Georgia’s largest educator’s credit unions, we’re committed to helping our youth build core financial literacy and economic education skills through experiences that inspire success in work and life. We want to empower them to be successful, productive citizens so together we can build stronger communities.”
Students in grades six through eight receive unique job assignments and work in teams at their assigned businesses. By the end of the simulation, each student completes a day’s work, develops a personal budget, deposits a paycheck at the credit union and makes purchasing decisions.
Students who are assigned as credit union employees will learn the basics of money management through real-life scenarios. The credit union will help students understand personal budgeting, savings and other skills that will help with financial responsibility and job skills.
“Now more than ever, for students to be successful they must remain engaged in school, equipped with the skills for the professional world and prepared to navigate the financial complexities of today’s economy,” said Jack Harris, president and CEO of Junior Achievement of Georgia. “Thanks to partnerships with the corporate community and local school system, Junior Achievement is primed to provide the curriculum, tools and experiential facility to prepare more students to excel at the business of life.”
Georgia’s first BizTown opened in August 2013 at Junior Achievement’s Chick-fil-A Foundation Discovery Center. Since then, thousands have participated in the program and 94 percent of students surveyed said that after taking part in the simulation they now see why school and education are important to achieve the lifestyle they want to live.
Located on Old Norcross Road, near the intersections of 316 and Sugarloaf, JA Gwinnett Discovery Center is scheduled to open August 2015 and is expected to serve 12,500 students annually.
About Junior Achievement of Georgia
Junior Achievement (JA) of Georgia is dedicated to giving young people the knowledge and skills they need to own their economic success, plan for their future, and make educated academic and economic choices. JA programs are delivered by corporate and community volunteers, and provides relevant, hands-on experiences to students from kindergarten through high school. JA of Georgia offers multiple programs, including in-class programs, JAMS and JA Fellows all of which focus on entrepreneurship, personal financial literacy and workforce readiness. During the 2013/2014 school year, JA of Georgia served 164,000 students statewide through five district offices located in Atlanta, Columbus, Dalton, Gainesville and Savannah. For more information, visit georgia.ja.org or call 404.257.1932.
About Georgia United Credit Union
Established in 1958, Georgia United Credit Union is one of the largest and strongest member-owned credit unions in Georgia with over 130,000 members, 17 branches—of which are 5,000 shared branches— and over 100,000 surcharge-free ATMs nationwide. As a full-service financial institution committed to improving its members’ lives and local communities, Georgia United serves all State Agency employees, Board of Regents colleges and universities, employees of over 500 companies and 11 county school systems. For more information, please call 770.476.6400 or visit georgiaunitedcu.org.