NORCROSS GA – Associated Credit Union is a proud sponsor of Junior Achievement of Georgia. On Monday, September 17, ACU held their storefront ribbon cutting ceremony at the Mike and Lynn Cottrell Junior Achievement Discovery Center at North Georgia. Following the ceremony, fifteen employees of ACU stayed to volunteer for the day with sixth grade students from Dawson County in the JA BizTown simulation.

Junior Achievement provides children with an experiential day of learning that brings real world concepts to life at their learning level. The JA BizTown simulation teaches sixth graders how to successfully run a business for the day, demonstrating concepts such as marketing a product, applying for a business loan, and learning how to measure profit and revenue. The JA Finance Park simulation provides seventh and eighth graders a deep dive into personal finance by having them create a budget and apply for auto and mortgage loans based on the credit score and life scenario they are provided.

“We are thrilled to be part of Junior Achievement,” said Mark Waller, COO of Associated Credit Union. “Not only will we be helping children learn more about finances and how to prepare for the future, but we will also be greatly impacting the teachers and parents of the communities that we serve in Dawson and Hall County.”

With the addition of the North Georgia location, Junior Achievement will now effect over one third of Georgia’s Middle School students. The North Georgia location serves middle school students from Calhoun City Schools, Dawson County Schools, Forsyth County Schools, Gainesville City Schools, Hall County Schools, and Lumpkin County Schools.

Associated Credit Union has committed $45,000 over the course of three years to Junior Achievement to continue to grow their partnership. They will continue to volunteer at both the Gwinnett County Discovery Center, as well as the new North Georgia location.

Associated CU is headquartered in Norcross with 24 branches in Metro Atlanta, Dawsonville, Carrollton, and Augusta serving over 160,000 members. Associated CU is a full-service financial institution that has been serving the community for over 85 years and anyone can join.