IMAGO VRC Initiative logo IMAGO VRCVocational Revitalization Center
Why Contractors and Local Businesses Join

Join the Tradeforce Employer Network

IMAGO Tradeforce delivers pre-screened, trade-trained associates to your business — with real federal incentives that lower your actual cost of hiring, not just goodwill on your side of the deal.

SEC. 01 — WHAT YOU GET

A Pipeline, Not a Job Posting

Every Tradeforce associate arrives having already gone through structured trade training, financial accountability coaching, and performance-based screening. You are not hiring an unknown applicant off a job board — you are hiring someone whose reliability, skill level, and work ethic have already been demonstrated inside a structured program built specifically to produce hire-ready workers.

SEC. 02 — REAL FINANCIAL INCENTIVES

Not Just Talking Points

Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC)

A federal tax credit for hiring individuals who've faced employment barriers, including justice-involved individuals — a direct reduction in your federal tax liability for hires you were already planning to make.

WIOA On-the-Job Training Reimbursement

Covers 50% to 75% of a new hire's wages during their training period — your actual out-of-pocket labor cost during onboarding is cut by half or more.

Federal Bonding Program

No-cost fidelity bonding that protects your business against loss from a new hire's dishonesty — removing the insurance and liability hesitation that often stops businesses from hiring justice-involved workers.

Trades Training That Fits Your Work

The Tradeforce model embeds instruction inside real project work — associates are trained against the tasks and standards your business actually needs, not a generic classroom curriculum.

Put together, this means a Tradeforce hire often costs less, not more, than a standard hire — while carrying less risk, not more.
SEC. 03 — WHO THIS IS FOR

A Fit on Both Sides

  • Contractors in construction, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and related trades looking for a reliable pipeline of trained labor
  • Local businesses with entry-level or skilled positions open to a structured, pre-screened hiring pathway
  • Employers who want the WOTC and WIOA incentives but haven't had a structured way to access qualified candidates who bring them
SEC. 04 — WHAT JOINING ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE

No Mass Résumé Dump, No One-Time Transaction

  • A conversation about your current hiring needs and where Tradeforce associates could fit
  • Introduction to specific associates matched to your open roles
  • Support navigating the WOTC and WIOA paperwork so the incentives are actually easy to claim
  • An ongoing relationship — the Tradeforce Employer Network is built for employers who want a continuing source of trained workers, not a single placement
SEC. 05 — STANDARDS TO QUALIFY

What We Ask of Every Employer Network Member

IMAGO's associates include justice-involved individuals working to rebuild their lives, so the standards below exist to protect them, your worksite, and the integrity of the federal incentive programs tied to this network. These are the baseline categories every member is expected to meet:

  • Valid business license appropriate to your tradeRequired
  • Active general liability insuranceRequired
  • Active workers' compensation coverageRequired
  • Written drug-free workplace policyRequired
  • OSHA-compliant safety program (OSHA 10/30 or equivalent)Required
  • Equal opportunity / non-discriminatory hiring practiceRequired
  • Willingness to work with justice-involved associates specificallyRequired
A note on precision: these are the standard categories every member is expected to meet. Exact certification language and any additional terms tied to a specific federal or state grant are finalized in the actual agreement, not on this page.
SEC. 06 — IN DEVELOPMENT

The IMAGO Fieldbook

Every contractor who has spent years in a trade carries knowledge that was never written down — not the textbook version, but the version shaped by real corrections and judgment calls on real jobs. That knowledge normally leaves the industry when a contractor retires. The IMAGO Fieldbook is a working name for a concept in active development: capturing that knowledge directly from real, live work — a contractor performing and narrating an actual task, an IMAGO associate present as both apprentice and participant, and a media student or production partner handling capture — and turning it into structured, versioned training material credited permanently to the contractor who built it.

Captured material goes through contractor-side review and a proposed independent trade-verification layer (in conversation with local trade unions) before it's treated as credentialed content — not published on a single person's say-so.

Stated plainly: this is in development, not an active program. No contractors are yet engaged under this model, the working name isn't finalized, and no consent, IP, or attribution agreements exist yet — those require attorney review before any filming happens. Separately, whether Fieldbook-captured content can count toward official Registered Apprenticeship instructional hours is an open question submitted to the Illinois Department of Labor and not yet confirmed in writing. We won't claim that credit exists until it's answered.
SEC. 07 — PREQUALIFY YOUR BUSINESS

Start the Conversation

This is a prequalification inquiry, not a binding application. Submitting it starts a conversation with IMAGO's placement coordinator — it does not commit you to anything.

Or email directly: ImagoVRCInitiative@gmail.com