Milwaukee staffing firms Pro Trade LLC and Mindful Staffing Solutions LLC have earned Wisconsin Job Honor Awards for their efforts to help disadvantaged jobseekers find employment.
Rashaad Washington and Reginald Reed, Jr., childhood friends, launched the businesses independently and then decided to work together. They recruit at-risk inner city residents and provide a 14-week construction trades training and personal development program to prepare them for the workplace.
Pierre Jackson, who completed the training program offered by Pro Trade and Mindful Staffing, said it changed his life. Jackson has a felony conviction and had difficulty finding a job, but with the help of the organizations, now serves as an insulation installer at Builders’ Insulation in Germantown.
“They saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself,” he said.
Individual honorees received checks for $500 at the awards.
The Wisconsin Job Honor Awards celebrate Wisconsinites who have overcome barriers to employment and the employers that hire them. This is the second year they have been held. The awards were hosted Thursday by Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce and the lead sponsor was ManpowerGroup.
