Marques Paige and Stephone Cosby know what it’s like to struggle.
Both worked hard just to make ends meet before enrolling at WRTP/BIG STEP and the TrANS road building class. Both can tell you the difference between a job and a good job. Both can tell you how the latter can have transformative effects on a life.
The Transportation Alliance for New Solutions (TrANS) class, developed by Wisconsin Department of Transportation and industry and offered by WRTP/BIG STEP, offers community members instruction on basic construction and road building skills, safety and awareness training, commercial driver’s license permit, flagging certification, and much more. An important component of the training is apprenticeship preparation. Students are required to apply for at least one trade. This access to the possibility of apprenticeship gives graduates the opportunity to secure a family supporting job in the skilled trades.
Marques, now a laborer apprentice, and Stephone, a journeyman laborer, shared their stories with the contractors and attendees at the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s Partnering for Employment Workshop at Waukesha County Technical College. The panel discussion was followed by a speed networking event that allowed TrANS graduates to meet with contractors.
Stephone’s and Marques’s words are more powerful than anything we can write. Please listen and share.