A program that is matching low-income job seekers with businesses appears to have gained the support needed in Madison to continue.
The future of the Transitional Jobs Program was up in the air recently as the Joint Finance Committee was considering possibly eliminating funding for it. The committee however has recently approved a continuation of funds for a second year of operation. The state lawmakers did make changes to the jobs program including reducing the program request from $17-million to $12-million and also restricting the project to “for-profit” businesses except in the case of a natural disaster.
The Milwaukee Works! – Transitional Jobs Program is a partnership between Social Development Commission (SDC), the YWCA and the Milwaukee Area Workforce Investment Board that offers the Transitional Jobs services in Milwaukee County. It has been placing individuals in jobs with participating businesses and supplementing their pay at the start of their employment. Business owners taking part in the program note that this has allowed them to afford to train the workers who are often relatively inexperienced. That permits the workers to develop experience and skills that increases their value as employees.
Troy Reese, president of T. L. Reese Corporation which is a Milwaukee area construction services company, participates in the Milwaukee Works! – Transitional Jobs Program and said it was a great success in its first year for both his company and the participating workers. The program, he says, provides valuable employees for his firm while putting jobless residents back to work and also giving them job training.
Kevin Berry is taking part in the program and also applauded the program’s impact. He noted that it has put him back to work and given him hope for the future.
He said that he and his fellow participants have seen success in building their job skills and employment experience through it. He added he hopes that the program will be available for other young men and women who are looking to get back into the workplace and build a brighter future for themselves and their families.
To learn more about the Milwaukee Works! – Transitional Jobs Program, visit the SDC website at www.cr-sdc.org, click on the “Programs” page and then on the link for Transitional Jobs. Or call one of the program’s three partners at 414-906-2795, 414-270-7530 or 414-374-1800.
