Craig Daily Press

When the chance came to re-enter the banking field, Edy George jumped at it.

Edy George, who now works in the customer service department at Kevin Amack State Farm Insurance in Meeker, formerly worked in the operational division for First National Bank of the Rockies.

Beginning in early July, she plans to return to her former calling, beginning work at Mountain Valley Bank in Meeker.

But, Edy George lacks one element: Education.

A new program scheduled to start at Colorado Northwestern Community College in August may help her solve that problem.

The two-year Business and Banking degree is the latest addition to the college’s business department, which already contains other programs including business administration and accounting, CNCC business instructor Kathy Powell, said.

Edy George is ready to jump on opportunity once more.

“I’ll do whatever it takes,” she said.

For 63 credits, students interested in the banking field can earn an associate’s degree through the program. For 15 to 18 credits, students can earn a banking certificate.

Required courses in the associate’s degree eventually will address business statistics, the principles of banking and teach the principles of financing and how financial information impacts the banking industry, Powell said.

Initial classes, including accounting and science, will be offered during the fall 2008 semester.

However, just because students earn an associate’s degree in business and banking doesn’t mean they have to enter the banking profession. Skills taught in the program also could transfer to other fields including financial investments, Powell said.

Most of the classes required by the program already are offered at CNCC, she said.

That’s good news to Melissa George, CNCC bookstore manager and cashier for the Craig campus.

Melissa George is about two years away from graduating from an online program offered by Franklin University, an Ohio-based institution, with a Bachelor of Science in forensic accounting.

The degree will allow her to become a Certified Public Accountant qualified to sniff out white-collar financial crime.

“I can’t wait,” she said laughing.

In addition to her bachelor’s degree at Franklin University, she also is earning her associate of accounting at CNCC.

When she found that classes offered through the business and banking program also apply to her bachelor’s degree, she signed up for the new CNCC program, adding a third degree she’s pursuing while working fulltime.

“I just figured that as long as I’m going to be taking the finance class here, I’m only about six classes away from having a bank associates degree,” she said.

Melissa George, a self-professed “number-cruncher,” believes the class will be valuable in her future profession.

“It’s good information to have,” Melissa George said. “It will be very useful to me in the future.”

The final deadline to register for the business and banking program is Aug. 27. To register, call 824-1100. For more information about the program, call Powell at 824-1112.

Bridget Manley can be reached at 875-1795 or bmanley@craigdailypress.com