HELENA-WEST HELENA, Ark. — Tanya Wright, CEO of Southern Bancorp Community Partners, today announced the hire of Sandra Lee as Southern’s Employment Services Manager.
The role of the Employment Services Manager is a new but critical position for Southern. It builds on Southern’s extensive workforce development history and experience with a focus of creating new employment opportunities. The primary responsibilities of the job are to develop and implement programs that increase employment and employability among people in Phillips County. Lee’s position will involve researching best practices in the areas of promoting general education, workforce readiness, and entrepreneurship; and then applying that information to create programs, projects, or activities to help unemployed and underemployed Phillips County residents find work that supports them, their families, and their community.
“We saw a great need to create this position in Phillips County,” said Wright. “Southern played a significant role in the workforce development field in years past, particularly with the conception and implementation of the Career Pathways program. We hope this new position will help Southern advance towards our transformational goal of increasing employment, and believe Sandra has the experience and regional knowledge to help us ensure we achieve progress in Phillips County.”
Sandra Lee, a native of Helena, Arkansas, has more than a decade of supervisory and customer service experience. Prior to joining Southern, Lee was the Senior Circle Advisor/Volunteer Services Director for the Helena Regional Medical Center. She also previously served as the Marketing Specialist/Job Developer for Workforce, Inc. and the Executive Director/Housing Developer for the Helena Renewal Community Corporation. She holds an Associate Degree from Phillips County Community College.
“I am very excited about improving workforce readiness in Phillips County,” said Lee, “and I look forward to working in partnership with people, organizations, and businesses that share that mission.”