In light of an enthusiastic response to the city’s new Neighborhood Jobs Opportunity Program, the Department of Public Works has launched an informational website detailing the program, which will create job opportunities for Milwaukee residents to maintain neighborhood properties, according to Alderman Russell W. Stamper, II.

Local contractors and organizations that are interested in contract work maintaining neighborhood properties can now visit milwaukee.gov/neighborhoodjobs to learn more and begin the application process.

“Last week’s information session for potential participants was overwhelmingly positive, and attendance was so strong that staff members ran out of informational handouts,” Alderman Stamper said. “To me, this affirms that there are a lot of aspiring entrepreneurs in Milwaukee who are interested in work trimming yards and shoveling snow, but who were prevented from qualifying by a complicated bidding process that favors big corporations with RFP experience.”

In order to make such opportunities more accessible to those in need of employment, Alderman Stamper said he worked with city departments to create a fixed-price contract system. Qualifying participants must be registered and incorporated in the State of Wisconsin, maintain a principal office in the City of Milwaukee and procure a minimum amount of insurance.

The new website creates a central hub for information about the program, allowing contractors and community-based organizations to more easily explore the opportunities that are available to them, and includes detailed instructions on how to apply.