Compete Milwaukee Program Boasts Positive Employment Results, Launches 2019 Application Season

MILWAUKEE— Jobs are an integral part of growth and prosperity for every city neighborhood. The City of Milwaukee is a proud partner in providing unemployed and underemployed residents with the training they need to connect to employment opportunities. Mayor Tom Barrett and Common Council President Ashanti Hamilton invite qualified city residents to apply starting now for Compete Milwaukee transitional jobs.

Through Compete Milwaukee, participants work in a variety of jobs in City departments, while at the same time receiving job readiness training and career counseling. To date, 85% of participants have found unsubsidized employment following their transitional job work experience, putting them on a path to family-supporting jobs.

“I am pleased with the success of Compete Milwaukee in helping people stay in the workforce and climb their career ladder,” said Mayor Barrett. “Compete Milwaukee gives residents valuable work experience in City departments and increases the City’s ability to serve our residents. I encourage qualified residents to apply to this program and take advantage of this great opportunity.”

“Compete Milwaukee is the best thing that ever happened to me,” said Marcus Ford, a 2016 participant.  “When I started my transitional job with UMOS I worked on a streets crew filling potholes.  I was successful in my work experience that season, but I really wanted to be a City worker.  Being in Compete Milwaukee motivated me to gain a CDL permit. I applied for the City Laborer position and the rest is history. I tell everybody about Compete Milwaukee. If you want to change your life like I did, apply for this opportunity today”.

This year, The City of Milwaukee, in collaboration with the United Migrant Opportunity Services (UMOS) and other local workforce development partners, will provide approximately 50 six-month, mainly construction based, transitional jobs to qualifying unemployed residents.

Eligible individuals who successfully complete pre-placement requirements will earn $11.32/hour performing a wide variety of general laboring duties within the Department of Public Works, Department of Neighborhood Services and Port Milwaukee.

Individuals interested in applying for the Compete Milwaukee transitional jobs MUST meet the following requirements:

• Must reside within Milwaukee County.
• Must be 18 and older at the time of enrollment.
• 18-23 Childless Young Adult—NOT required to meet the following: have a child support order, a child welfare reunification plan or be an ex-offender.
• 18 and older With Child—MUST meet one of the following: have a child support order, a child welfare reunification plan or be an ex-offender.
• If older than 24 years of age—MUST be the biological, adoptive or primary relative caregiver of a child under the age of 18.
• Must not have previously worked a total of 1,040 hours in the program.
• Must have been unemployed for the last four (4) consecutive calendar weeks prior to enrollment.
• Cannot be receiving W2 benefits and not eligible to receive Unemployment Insurance Compensation.
• Have an annual household income that is less than 150% of the federal poverty guideline for the household size.

Interested applicants should contact UMOS’s Hector Lerma at 414-389-6234 to determine eligibility. For more information, visit city.milwaukee.gov/competemilwaukee

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.