Lowell, Ark.-based Arvest Bank is leveraging support from Google Cloud to launch an internal training program for current employees as its needs for technology-focused personnel and resources grows.

“We’ve been doing a whole reskilling, upskilling program,” Laura Merling, chief transformation and operations officer at Arvest Bank, told Bank Automation News, noting that its recent partnership with Google Cloud has provided the bank with access to the tech giant’s engineers.

Although the reskilling program is in its early stages, bank employees have already received thousands of hours of training, Merling said.

Through the program, the $26 billion community bank is leaning into its current internal staff rather than solely seeking new hires to fill out its tech teams.

“There’s a whole bunch of people [at the bank] that have such great background information, experience, know the existing systems, know customer expectations and understand culture,” Merling said.

However, some new hires may be added to the tech-focused team along the way as it launches a series of new roles, Merling noted.

Arvest employees have access to Google Cloud engineers and training hours as part of the program that will combine new skills with their previous work experience, she said. “It’s really important to marry those two together,” Merling noted.

The training program was put into place following the bank’s focus on the digital consumer experience — including partnerships with core banking platform Thought Machine and consultancy Accenture.