Before its merger,
First Green Bank works to ensure its current employees find a place to land.
In a creative move to get all of its employees hired in new positions before it’s shuttered, First Green Bank is putting a call-out to employers “looking for good employees.”
In an email sent to clients, shareholders, bankers and friends, Orlando-based First Green included a list of job titles corresponding to the employees who will lose their jobs when the bank is sold to Seacoast Bank in the next several months.
“As with any merger, there are some great co-workers who will be left without a position,” the bank wrote in the email, initially sent out on Aug. 24.
Seacoast has been able to retain most of First Green’s employees, the email read, but several won’t have jobs once the bank is closed. For that reason, First Green said, it is circulating a list of 25 worker job titles — from executive assistants, to branch managers, to tellers — that are available for hire.
First Green founder and chairman Kenneth LaRoe said although Seacoast has been actively hiring a majority of its 110 employees, the bank wanted to take a more creative approach at helping the last of its employees get rehired.
The email blast went out to 7,500 people, and so far, it’s been working, he said.
“We have been inundated with inquiries, and it’s really cool because there are some really highlevel inquiries coming in,” LaRoe said.
Of the 25 people still without jobs, two have been hired by Seacoast and three others have been offered positions thanks to the email call-out.
In June, First Green revealed it had agreed to a $132 million merger with Stuart-based Seacoast. First Green opened in 2009 with an environmental and social mission.
Its branches are solar-powered, customers got sustainability incentives and employees were guaranteed a living wage, making starting salaries of $30,000 — now $33,000 — with $1,000 annual raises.
As part of the merger, Seacoast committed to accommodating as many of First Green’s employees as possible.
Before it closes, First Green will get one more recognition for its green efforts: Mayor Buddy Dyer will visit its downtown Orlando headquarters on Thursday, when the bank will receive LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.