PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — The landscaping company made famous as the site of a controversial election press conference is partnering with local organizations to help people get jobs.
A jobs skills training event sponsored by Four Seasons Total Landscaping is designed to marry people with jobs that are available, and they’re also training those employees for full-time sustainable jobs in the landscaping industry.
A full-time job with benefits has become harder to grasp in the middle of the pandemic, but there’s light at the end of the tunnel for those who may be thinking about a career in landscaping.
“The program is built to help people target the thing that they want next,” Joshua Park, senior manager of strategy and partnerships with West Philadelphia Skills Initiative, said.
Four Seasons Total Landscaping may ring a bell. The company gained worldwide attention after the infamous press conference held by former President Donald Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani. The woman-owned company actually provides a myriad of jobs for fellow Philadelphians.
“At the Philadelphia International Airport, we have the ground maintenance contract there through Elliott-Lewis,” Sean Middleton, director of sales at Four Seasons Total Landscaping, said, “and we’ve recently gotten into green stormwater infrastructure maintenance.”
It has now joined forces with the West Philadelphia Skills Initiative and the Navy Yard Workforce Development Initiative to create an intensive program that renders results with 95% of participants being connected to employment upon successful completion of the program.
“The job opportunities are real and they’re there for you to earn them if you get accepted into the program,” Park said.
This is all made possible through a $1.5 million investment from the JPMorgan Chase Foundation. Graduates will be able to interview for laborer positions starting at $14 per hour.
“They’ve been doing awesome landscaping work down there for us so it just made sense to talk to them,” Jennifer Tran, the Navy Yard’s marketing and communications director, said.
More initiatives are being planned. In the meantime, training for the session will be three weeks long starting at the end of February to the middle of March.
Keep in mind the deadline to apply is Feb. 5. You can apply by clicking here.
