CoverMyMeds is the first large employer creating a path to leave poverty wages for higher-paying customer support careers through a training program at Fortuity, a social enterprise that's practically across the street in Franklinton.
Some hires were close to losing their homes before landing the job.
Fortuity Calling LLC opened in late 2019, but the pandemic threw it off pace landing large corporate clients for call center outsourcing. It hires people who work full-time but for low wages, as well as truly entry-level trainees from workforce development programs, and surrounds them with supports such as rental assistance and counseling to succeed in a more stable career.
"A lot of our employees living in Columbus’s urban core might not have the opportunity to get directly hired into some of our largest companies that have some of the best jobs and some of the best benefits," said Fortuity co-founder and CEO Fred Brothers. "We’ll hire folks, we’ll train them up; they’ll gain skills and confidence."
Software giant CoverMyMeds is the first to sign up for Fortuity's Pathways Workforce Development program, in which Fortuity trains its employees in the client's customer support protocols and prepares them to apply for a full-time job.
"We celebrate if one of our clients wants to hire one of our folks," Brothers said. "It’s the ultimate manifestation of our mission. Then we get to find somebody else and give them the opportunity for the same."
The pandemic put Fortuity about two years behind, because large prospective clients put all sales calls on hold. It worked with smaller customers in the meantime. Including rent from medical practices and other tenants in its headquarters, 775 W. Broad St., annualized revenue is on track for some $5 million, Brothers said.
Fortuity designed Pathways with CoverMyMeds in mind, said co-founder and COO Katie Robinson.
"We put pen to paper (pre-pandemic) and told them this is what it would look like," she said. "They were the first ones to come back to us."
Starting in November, Fortuity hired 40 people to work with CoverMyMeds clients, which include pharmacies, insurers, healthcare providers and patients using the software to ensure needed prescriptions are filled. Service went live in December.
"CoverMyMeds gave us an aggressive timeline," Brothers said. "We actually raised our standards on candidates, and we nailed it."
The call center has about 55 employees overall, including those working on other accounts. The pandemic pushed up Fortuity's starting wages to $15 or more hourly, from about $12.50 when it opened.
"That helps folks, and we've been able to hire real quality candidates," Brothers said. "We've been able to hire when nobody else has in this labor market."
Founded in 2008, CoverMyMeds was acquired in 2017 for $1.4 billion by healthcare giant McKesson. Now the flagship of a much larger technology unit with offices around the country, it opened the first of a massive two-building west Franklinton campus in spring 2021. It's just north of Fortuity's building, which was once part of the Mount Carmel West campus south of Broad Street.
"CoverMyMeds has built a reputation for contributing in a positive way to our communities where we live and work, and we’re continuously expanding our efforts,” said Miranda Gill, CMM vice president of network, in a news release. "We look forward to welcoming 40 remarkable individuals as an extension of our team. ... It’s our job to continue creating opportunity for our neighbors and give back in meaningful ways."
The program has prevented homelessness for some hires. One woman rented one of the first townhomes in Warner Junction, an affordable housing development by Model Group and Finance Fund, which also is one of Fortuity's financial backers.
Fortuity also has hired residents of Carol Stewart Village, another Finance Fund project developed and owned by Fairfield Homes to convert former motels into housing for young adults who have aged out of foster care.
A counseling service in the building has free rent, in exchange for offering counseling free to Fortuity employees.
"We had this vision: If you help these folks with introductions, referrals, a little assistance to manage the complexity of their lives, absenteeism will go down, distraction will go down, they’ll be here more and be more present in their work," Brothers said. "Boy, it’s been good business. The performance of our folks has been fantastic."
Besides tax credits to rehabilitate the building, Fortuity also has a $7.6 million loan from the Ohio Department of Development, qualifies for as much as $500,000 in Franklin County job-training grants and can earn Columbus job creation incentives worth as much as $1.55 million over 10 years. It has worked to modify those agreements to accommodate the pandemic delays.
"There were times we almost felt like giving up, but I’m so glad we didn’t," Robinson said.
"We’re changing lives through better work," Brothers said.
