Photo / Courtesy of Portland Public Schools
Vienna Dunn, full-time teller at Bath Savings Institution in Yarmouth
Updated: May 31, 2021
Work for ME 2021 — Financial Services
New Mainers land teller jobs, as training program opens doors for immigrants
Photo / James R. Salomon
Congolese native Chris Mbalazamo, a teller at cPort Credit Union’s Riverside branch in Portland, is a graduate of Portland Adult Education’s New Mainer Teller Training Program.
In 2015 after Chris Mbalazamo arrived in Maine from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, he opened an account at cPort Credit Union.
He’s now a teller at cPort’s Riverside branch Portland, after graduating from the 12-week New Mainer Teller Training Program. It was launched in 2020 by Portland Adult Education in partnership with six financial institutions, including cPort.
“When I was growing up, my dream job was to be working at a bank,” Mbalazamo says. Hired as a teller last June, the Southern Maine Community College business administration graduate aims to further his education and become an accountant one day.
“I’m going after my goals and I keep making my mom proud,” he says.
Vienna Dunn, a single mother from China who went through the same training program, was hired in March as a full-time teller at Bath Savings Bank in Yarmouth.
The former waitress finds her new job much more fulfilling.
“My friends always think when you become a bank teller you have to go to college and get a degree,” she says. “I say ‘No, you just need to be honest and patient and just want to work hard, and you’ll get a job.’”
The 2021 class began in an online format this past January, funded with $25,000 from eight financial institutions, who also provide teaching support.
“It’s a fabulous program, and we’ll do whatever is needed,” says cPort President and CEO Gene Ardito.
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