Financial Literacy

The partnership is part of an effort to teach hispanic employees at Tyson about the U.S. financial system. The company has made these classes mandatory to ensure their hispanic employees know the ins and outs of american finance. `Building the Future` educates employees on how to create a credit history, steps towards buying a home, how to write a check in english, and how to get a retirement plan. Community Cares, the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, Walton Family Foundation, Tyson and NWACC provide funding for the program. Tyson officials say the company began offering the classes as a way to help further integrate hispanics into the community. According to the company, the financial literacy classes have dramatically increased participation in their 401-K retirement program. Roland Goicoechea teaches the classes and says both the company and the employees benefit from the program. "It creates dreams within people, they begin to imagine a brighter future and of course that lends itself to their happiness and stability and also a more stable workforce at the same time," he says. Goicoechea says he stays involved with the employees even after the program has ended. "One of the guarantees that I give all of my students is anything that you learn in my classes that you want to take action on, come and tell me and I will personally go with you to the bank to take action," he says. Tyson says the company hopes to eventually spread these classes to all of their plants. To learn more about the financial classes, visit www.nwacc.edu.