A stepping stone up and a free opportunity to grow new skills comes to Madison with a new workforce development program.
Action Jackson, founder of Jackson’s Yard Care, 922 S. Bird St., Sun Prairie, hosted an orientation session on Monday, Feb. 19 for his company’s new workforce development program. The program aims to equip participants with a wide range of landscaping skills for the chance to work in the industry or foster skills to go further in trades.
Jackson was inspired to start the program after last year. He notes that it was one of the hardest years, in terms of employee quality, so he took time to figure out what was missing from his own company.
“I realized what I didn’t do last year, and that was to train my staff. I really saw the difference between a trained staff and an untrained staff. I heard through my business allies how rough it is when employment and bad staffing is in your company,” Jackson said. “I didn’t really go through that last year and when I saw that, I identified my problems really quick.”
Jackson concluded that adequate training wasn’t present and took a step back to make sure that his own team was fully prepared for the rigors of landscaping.
He, in turn, thought that training should trickle out to anyone who wants a career in landscaping for themselves — for free.
“I chose not to gatekeep information, which I see a lot of people do not only in our industry, but all around other industries,” Jackson said.
His larger goal, beyond workforce readiness for landscapers, is to address economic disparities in BIPOC communities in Madison. A key component of the information session he offered to the community aimed to address the continued economic disparities in household earnings.
The median income for Black households with multiple working in the United States is estimated at $53,500. For white households with multiple working, the median income is $77,250, according to a report from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The average earning potential for landscapers in Wisconsin ranges largely based upon the range of skills and services a landscaper does. Landscaper salaries in Wisconsin ranges from $29,000-$56,000, according to income tax record reports from Intuit.
The national median income for landscapers and groundskeepers is $35,890, according to 2022 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“When we talk about what you can actually receive as annual income… in the Madison area, you can earn $40,000 yearly,” Jackson said. “The average income of a minority person, you can see that we dropped on the grid when we talk about annual pay. We’re trying to make sure that we develop this program so we can be above that blue line and get our minorities in a better position.”
The data referenced by Jackson shows the average income for a single individual’s salary. The income sits at $26,000 for Black individual salaries and has dropped in recent years. He hopes to bridge an opportunity to fix that with the program.
Throughout the training, participants in the workforce development program will learn key skills in landscaping that can be leveraged for further careers in trades.
Participants will learn landscaping safety, such as tool handling and PPE; real life scenarios that they will run across while working, like proper mulching, planting, cleaning, building retaining walls and many other scenarios; and hands on work performing services that Jackson Yard Care would typically provide its clients to give an example of how work looks.
After the program, participants will receive a certification and Jackson’s Yard Care will try to provide positions in either its company or with other landscapers.
“We really want to see you land a job at the end,” Jackson said. “But I can promise you guys if you put 100% into this program, the pr ogram will put 100% into you.”
The Jackson Yard Care workforce development program is completely free and will span through March. Training will be held three days a week between 9-2:30 pm.
Applications are open until February 26.
Interested applicants can reach out [email protected].
