For our August show, we visited a Summer Youth Employment Program site that is supported by the Southwest Wisconsin Workforce Development Board (SWWDB). As part of this program, youth in 6 southwestern counties in Wisconsin are set up with existing businesses to help them out for the summer.
This was a very exciting program as we got to talk with several people in this chain and we got to see (and show you) several different perspectives on this project. First, we talked with Ron Coppernoll who is the community outreach liaison for the SWWDB, then we talked to Glenn Swedlund, who works for CISA 2 and is the liaison between the program, the business owners and the employees. Then we talked to Cliff Wakefield who runs Beneficial Insulation Solutions and two of his new employees, Erica and Shirley.
The sense of excitement that came from all of the program participants is infectious. It is clear that these people are doing the jobs that they want to do and thanks to the stimulus funding they are able to do their jobs better and on a bigger scale. The biggest concern was that this program continues in its current form because it helps everyone involved - from the youth workers for some of whom this is the first job ever, to the business owners who are able to get more things done, to the homeowners who are able to get their homes weatherized.
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