Less than half of Minnesota workers participate in an employer-sponsored retirement savings plan, including more than half a million full-time workers in the Twin Cities metro area, and many do not use basic banking services.

More than 20 leading Minnesota employers in the Itasca Project's new Financially Fit Minnesota program have pledged to help their employees close critical gaps in two key areas of personal finance -- retirement savings and use of direct deposit for pay -- in a statewide initiative that will impact thousands of Minnesota families.