Member Profiles


Karen Caldwell, Director
Primavera Works
Tucson, Arizona


Year program began: 1997
Program sponsor: Primavera Foundation
Jobseekers placed last year: 307

Primavera Works/Temporary Day Labor Option is an alternative staffing service operated by Primavera Foundation as part of its efforts to address poverty and homelessness in Tucson. Workers earn a minimum of $7.00 per hour while receiving a wide range of supports to help them transition into stable employment and greater economic independence.

We spoke with director Karen Caldwell to learn more about Primavera’s work assisting motivated homeless and near homeless individuals to enter or re-enter and succeed in the local job market.

How did you get into the alternative staffing business?

As a Sociology major in college, I researched the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act for a poverty alleviation course. This assignment introduced me to Primavera Foundation’s work in the community and led to my doing a case study there the following semester. A year after graduating and soon after the launch of Primavera Works, they hired me as a case manager. Since then, I’ve grown with the program.

What population does your organization mainly work with?

About 85% of the people we serve are homeless and a third are ex-offenders. About half of our workers have some type of disability, including individuals with a history of substance abuse.

How many jobseekers does your organization serve annually?

Primavera Works serves about 700 individuals per year and we also manage a Department of Labor-funded program that serves 200 ex-offenders. During our fiscal year ending June 30, 2007 Primavera Works recorded over 600 applications and placed over 300 individuals in employment. About 15% of the people served in our ex-offender program received job placements through Primavera Works.

How are participants referred to your staffing service?

Primavera Foundation’s 100-bed Men’s Emergency Shelter is a large source of our referrals. We also receive referrals from other human service agencies and by word-of-mouth. Bus posters have proven to be a great outreach tool as well.

What types of support services have you found to be most critical to participants’ workplace success?

Case management is essential. Housing supports, transportation and access to tools and equipment are also very important for the population we serve and the high concentration of placements we make in construction and landscaping jobs. We also provide workers with lunch and water.

What types of employers do you serve?

We mainly supply workers to building contractors, property management companies and local government customers for construction, landscaping and groundskeeping work. We also make janitorial, industrial, food service and other placements and we have a crew that does yard work for residential customers.

What marketing methods or messages have you found to be most effective in attracting new customers?

Post card mailings have been very effective. Some of the mailing lists we’ve used include the Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, the Alliance of Construction Trades membership and the Southern Arizona Home Builders Association membership. We also target mailings to Primavera Foundation donors.

In addition, we get a number of calls from our yellow pages listing, and we regularly have a sales booth at a large, local home show held twice a year which generates business for our landscaping crew.

Please describe an innovative solution to a customer need.

When we receive a job request that’s beyond our capacity, we try to partner with other staffing agencies to fulfill the order as a co-supplier, performing the part of the job we can. For example, we received a request for stucco work and had to refer the customer to higher-skilled masons but negotiated to have our workers do the prep work.

What has been your most memorable staffing request?

We’ve been hired to put up and take down election-day campaign signs at polling places, and we’ve hung holiday lights for residential customers.

Please share a success story about one of your workers or one of your customers.

A significant share of the construction and landscaping work we do is very physical. One of our candidates could only perform light duty, but had good math skills. Initially we assigned him to do parks cleanup. When a customer called seeking a parking lot attendant who could handle cash, we assigned him there and it was a perfect match for both parties. He was hired soon after and has worked there since.

What are the biggest challenges of operating a staffing service in your market?

It’s tough competing with large, national labor suppliers, such as Labor Ready and Labor Express, who do extensive marketing, have locations all over town, and have greater transportation resources (for which workers pay a fee). Another challenge is the lack of many large companies in Tucson. We have very few high-volume business prospects.

As a manager, what do you wish you had more time for?

I’d like to be able to do more networking with customers and other potential business referral sources. I also miss the interaction with participants since my case management days, and I enjoy the occasional chance to fill in for other staff who directly manage and support our workforce.

What about your staffing operation are you most proud of?

I’m proud of our ability to satisfy the needs of both our customers and participants. We deliver quality services to our customers and provide needed supports to our workers.

What are your program’s main goals for the future?

We’d like to expand our commercial customer base. Currently, our sales mix is about 60% commercial, 40% residential, and our residential job orders tend to be small and erratic. We’re also looking to expand our landscaping services beyond the current single crew (supervisor and 4-persons).

What advice would you offer to someone considering alternative staffing as a strategy in their community?

Plan well for marketing and transportation. It’s so important to get your name out into the market. It’s also critical for workers who lack personal transportation to be able to access jobs. Anticipate this need and have a strategy and financing in place to provide this service.

What else would you like people to know about you or your organization?

Primavera Foundation is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year and we feel proud of the continuum of services we’re able to offer people, ranging from drop-in programs to shelters to transitional housing to permanent affordable rental housing and our home ownership program. We meet people wherever they are and help them build from there.

To learn more about Primavera Works, visit www.primavera.org/hire_primavera.php