Raimondo: Financial coaching key

Boosting Rhode Island out of its stagnant economy will not happen overnight, but the mission of Empower RI is to build a solid financial base, one employee and family at a time.
The financial-empowerment initiative launched by R.I. Treasurer Gina Raimondo last November encourages businesses to offer financial coaching as an employee benefit. A key element of the project is the Financial Coaching Corps, created in collaboration with the Capital Good Fund, a Providence microfinance organization. The corps includes financial experts who volunteer to help Rhode Islanders take charge of their finances.
“I spent a lot of time talking with business owners before launching this program,” Raimondo said. “In big and small companies, they know that a financially literate employee is a more stable employee. Employees who are distracted by their own personal financial concerns, or who don’t have a rainy-day fund and can’t cover emergencies, are not as productive.”
Empower RI is also a response to the nation’s economic woes, Raimondo said.
“We’re just coming out of an economic crisis fueled by debt problems,” she said, pointing to issues such as mortgages and student loans. “A lot of families in Rhode Island got hurt by that.”
The pilot program for Empower RI on the business front has been in progress for several months at Groov-Pin, a Smithfield-based manufacturer of engineered fasteners and precision-turned components for industries including aerospace, medical and telecommunications.
“Our mission in piloting this program is to see if an employer-based program makes sense. We’ve been very focused on what we could do to improve the business and reduce the stress of the recession,” said Groov-Pin CEO Scot Jones.
“We started a wellness program and we saw financial coaching as a financial wellness program. That’s why it was attractive to us,” he said.”
Employers pay a $750 initial cost for Empower RI. Then there’s a $300 fee per employee, or $350 for employee and spouse, for the one-year program.
Each employee received three one-on-one financial coaching sessions, which wrapped up in January. They are now in the next phase, with six- and 12-month follow-up sessions. Groov-Pin has 35 employees in Rhode Island and 20 are taking part in the financial counseling
Many of our employees have been managing their finances for 10, 20 or 30 years. But everyone reported they learned something in the process, said Jones.
“I think it’s had some lasting value,” he said.
The employees who are participating in the program have also been offered free tax preparation as part of the financial coaching services, he said.
Cameron Cunningham is head financial coach for Capital Good Fund, which is collaborating with the state treasurer to launch Empower RI.
Cunningham has worked with Groov-Pin employees, as well as individuals from the community who are starting to discover the Empower RI program.
“We work with people of many income levels,” Cunningham said.
Coaching works toward increases in savings, improvement in debt-to-income ratio, increase in credit score, increase in the use of banking services and an increase in income, said Capital Good Fund Executive Director Andrew Posner.
“If you’re in a group session and get a brochure handed to you, it’s only useful if I sit down with you and go through a plan to build your credit. There’s tons of data showing this,” Posner said. “Our average client will save $1,100 a year as a result of coaching.”
In addition to the pilot program at Groov-Pin, Posner said the Capital Good Fund is discussing the possibility of providing financial coaching to employees at Groov-Pin’s facility in Georgia by Skype, said Posner.
Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island has initiated the Empower RI program and is in the process of notifying employees about the opportunity to participate, said company spokesperson Shannon Broadbent.
The Capital Good Fund has enrolled about 10 Blue Cross & Blue Shield employees since mid-February and is anticipating working with up to 100 in the first phase, with the possibility of doubling or tripling that number as the program expands, Posner said.
Also getting on board with the Empower RI program is state Rep. Frank Ferri, D-Warwick, who is offering the financial coaching to employees at the bowling alley he owns, Town Hall Lanes in Johnston, Posner said. •

No posts to display