Employer Highlight: AJ Kirkwood & Associates

This past May, just as he’s done since 2015, Carlos Bello, Labor Relations Manager for A.J. Kirkwood & Associates, joined nearly 100 others at Hope Builders’ 2022 Builder’s Luncheon at the invitation of Clark Construction. Carlos, pictured in the center below,  was so impressed by the trainees he met that day that he signed up as an employer partner with Hope Builders Career Connections (HBCC)—the agency’s staffing agency—to offer career opportunities to trainees who’ve proven their reliability, accountability and initiative over the previous 12 weeks of training.

With support from HBCC, Carlos interviewed several candidates and was ultimately matched to six candidates—Dianne, Mayra, Mauro, Jeffrey, Jessica and Katie— who were eager to join the team at A.J. Kirkwood & Associates in both their prefabrication facility and in the field. “They were all very excited and eager to start their careers. You could feel their positivity which is why we wanted to bring them on board,” Carlos recalls.

Since June, both Carlos and each of the candidates have received regular check-ins from HBCC team members to ensure continued success. Carlos encourages all interested employers to contact HBCC to learn more. “These men and women have decided to go into the construction and industry. It was their decision to join Hope Builders and there’s a lot of accountability, punctuality in the program that carried over into their work ethic and attendance at AJK.”

Hope Builders and HBCC are grateful to the entire team at A.J. Kirkwood for providing life changing career opportunities to its young adults.