General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee is the latest employer to host a Project SEARCH site, a program for young adults with disabilities to gain work experience in a business environment.
“Individuals with disabilities are among the most dedicated and motivated workers and will help improve any employer’s bottom line,” state Department of Workforce Development’s Secretary Ray Allen said in a written statement. “We also thank Milwaukee County for serving as a Project SEARCH site at General Mitchell International Airport.”
The airport-based Project SEARCH program will operate through a collaboration and funding support through partners including Milwaukee County’s General Mitchell International Airport, Milwaukee Public Schools, Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin, the DWD and the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
Project SEARCH was developed in 1996, by J. Erin Riehle, a nurse at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.
Wisconsin’s DWD helped approximately 9,500 workers with disabilities reach their employment goals during the first two federal fiscal years (2015-16) following the launch of Governor Scott Walker’s A Better Bottom Line initiative to encourage more employers to hire job seekers with disabilities.
By the end of 2017, there will be a total of 27 Project SEARCH sites in the state of Wisconsin, with an average employment success rate of 88 percent. In Wisconsin, more than 450 people with disabilities have graduated from the program since 2008.
“This new collaboration with General Mitchell International Airport will help individuals with disabilities develop the skills necessary to succeed in the workforce and achieve greater independence,” Walker said in a written statement. “Through innovative programs such as Project SEARCH, we are making investments to help everyone who wants to develop the skills needed for jobs today and into the future.”
