It’s rare for employees to stick with a single company for a long time and even more rare for them to stay with their first employer.

Amber Merrill, Gesa Credit Union’s new community relations manager, unknowingly began her career with Gesa during her senior year at Hanford High School, when her business teacher recommended she take part in Gesa’s high school credit union program.

She’s been with the Richland-based credit union ever since, bucking a national trend. The median number of years workers stay with their current employer was four years, according to the US. Bureau of Labor Statistics data for January 2022.

Merrill has continued working at the credit union for the past decade, while earning her bachelor’s degree and later a master’s degree.

Her hard work and focus have paid off as Gesa recently promoted her to community relations manager.

“We knew early on that Amber was destined to accomplish great things, and it’s been incredible to have a front row seat to her success story,” said Don Miller, president and chief executive officer of Gesa Credit Union, in a statement. “Every step of the way, Amber has embodied Gesa’s values while making exceptional contributions to many of our programs that have left a lasting impact on others. We cannot wait to see what else she accomplishes.”

Gesa Credit Union, which celebrated its 70th anniversary this summer, has grown to become one of the largest credit unions in the state with 285,000 members.

High school program

Merrill, who got her foot in the door with Gesa as a teenager, said the experience influenced her career path in ways she never could have imagined.

Hanford High is among 12 Eastern Washington high schools currently hosting student-run Gesa “campus branches” open during lunch periods. They include Chiawana, Delta, New Horizons and Pasco high schools in Pasco, Richland and Hanford high schools in Richland, and Kennewick, Southridge and Kamiakin high schools in Kennewick.

Campus branches offer the same basic services as a regular Gesa branch. Students and staff can open an account, cash checks and make withdrawals and deposits.

The program is administered through the school’s financial literacy class, overseen by the teacher providing the course and supported by Gesa’s education team. Students who complete the course receive a financial sector career launch certificate – the first of its kind in Washington state.

Merrill said those who earn it are recognized by financial institutions across the state as being ready for an entry-level position within the financial industry.

Though all students participate in everyday branch operations, one intern is selected from each class to serve as the school’s campus branch manager to supervise fellow classmates during daily operations. In addition, the campus branch manager also receives a paid teller position outside of school hours at their home Gesa branch.

Merrill was the intern selected from her class.

“I was involved in Key Club and DECA so was dipping my toes into those business realms. What really sparked my interest was that this would really give me the real-life hands-on work experience to decide if I wanted to pursue business in college,” she said.

“At that time, I could never have imagined what my career could look like with Gesa,” she said. “I have been extremely fortunate to have been picked for that position because it really influenced the trajectory of my career and influenced my decisions going into my undergrad degree and later my graduate degree.”

During her time as campus branch manager, Merrill said she not only gained soft skills, teller skills and money skills, but also management and supervisory experience.

The experience “has really come in handy throughout my career and really helped me develop what I am passionate about,” she said.

From intern to management

The summer before she headed off to George Fox University, a private Christian college in Oregon, she asked her manager at Gesa if she could job shadow the back office to help her get an idea of what she might want to focus her studies on.

“I was supposed to go on this back-office journey. They started me off in marketing, but I never left. I was with the team for about an hour when they offered me an internship on the spot for that summer before college.

“I learned everything from graphic design, marketing campaign ideation and community relations and through that I found my passion for community relations and decided to pursue an undergrad (degree) in marketing and management,” Merrill said.

While away at school, she worked various jobs to make ends meet and also was the recipient of a Gesa scholarship. She came back during the summers to work as an intern until she completed her bachelor’s degree, gaining valuable experience along the way.

“When I worked (at Gesa) during the summertime, that money went into paying my living costs for the year ... the paid internship really got me through,” she said.

Before graduating college, Merrill checked to see if there might be a job posted in community relations at Gesa, but there wasn’t.

She applied for a collections department position with the hope that something in her desired field would become available. Just before she graduated, a job opened up to teach adult financial education and she jumped on it.

Merrill said the role later morphed, perhaps not coincidentally, into overseeing the high school credit union program. She said there are many interns who continue to work for Gesa for years after their high school internship.

After Gesa signed a partnership contract with the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA), her role transitioned into managing multiple partnerships, including with WIAA and Washington State University.

In 2022, Merrill obtained her master’s in business administration from Grand Canyon University, making use of Gesa’s tuition reimbursement and employer-assisted student loan repayment programs.

“It’s why I’m so passionate about not just the work that I do, but the company I work for,” she said. “I’ve had such amazing leaders who’ve shaped who I am and helped me throughout my career and they still are ... they like to hire and promote internally and support learning.”

Community relations

As Gesa’s new community relations manager, Merrill is responsible for overseeing strategic initiatives for the credit union’s sponsorships, partnerships, charitable giving and the Gesa Community Foundation.

“I have the best job at the credit union because I get to oversee the team that does all the work in the community,” she said.

Merrill’s community relations work doesn’t stop with Gesa, however. She serves on the Gesa Carousel of Dreams board, Girl Scouts of Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho board and is a member of the Advocacy Subcommittee for the GoWest Credit Union Association.

Away from the world of business, she and her husband have a 3-year-old. As a family, they like to hike, run, paddleboard and get outside and stay active.

Learn more about Gesa’s high school internship program at gesa.com/category/high-school-credit-unions.

Interested students can inquire at their school about how to get involved.