Centennial High School Teacher
Participates  in TIP Experience

             This summer, Marie Robinson, Centennial’s Work-Based Learning Coordinator was selected to participate in the Teachers in Industry Program.  The Teachers in Industry Program (TIP) is a cooperative project of the Georgia Department of Education and the Governor’s Office of Workforce Development.  Mrs. Robinson was selected as one of 50 Georgia teachers to participate in the program.  The objective of the program is to provide teachers with 20 hours of on-site work experience to enhance work-based learning program delivery.  (Pictured on the left:  Marie Robinson)

 Mrs. Robinson had a great opportunity to learn what it is like to be a part of a fast-paced, modern business office team.  She worked for Riviera Finance.  Riviera Finance is a factoring company located in Alpharetta, Georgia.  Riviera also has several locations throughout the United States and Canada.  The company has been in business for over 40 years.  The office staff and employees were friendly, helpful, and very hard working.  Riviera has also been one of Centennial’s work-based learning job sites for the past two years. 

           Riviera Finance operates with a sales team, account executives, assistants, and managers. Factoring allows a business to have access to money before they are paid by the company for which they performed a service. The client makes a sale, delivers the product or service and generates an invoice. Then, Riviera Finance buys the right to collect on that invoice by agreeing to pay the client the invoice amount less a discount--typically 2 to 6 percent. According to Amy G. Connaughton, one of assistant managers the for the company, factoring companies help businesses such as trucking companies or staffing agencies to be able to get paid for their loads or to be able to make payroll which keeps their businesses operational. 

Many of these clients don't have the luxury of working with a bank and getting low interest rates.  Factoring costs more than a traditional loan.  If the client can't qualify for a loan, their best and in many cases only option is working with a factoring company. Many factoring companies also provide services banks do not such as: providing accounting work for their clients, help with credit checks, getting extended payment assistance if needed, and getting financial reports generated for tax purposes.