Sokaogon Chippewa Community News

Lisa McGeshick Finds Success in Construction Field

By Kim Kircher, TrANS Instructor

Lisa McGeshick has had many different jobs during her lifetime, often struggling to make ends meet as a single mother of three children, and sometimes working as many as three jobs at a time. Throughout the years she had training as a social worker, waitress and semi-truck driver, and once had a Commercial Driving License (CDL) which she had to let go of because of financial difficulties and lack of work.

Lisa contacted me about the TrANS program in the beginning of July 2009. She was screened for the program shortly after that and ended up getting in the class that started on July 27th. She finished the class on September 3, 2009, with perfect attendance.

Two weeks after finishing the class she was working for Duffek Construction. She attended a pre-construction meeting, brought her resume, and really impressed the companies in attendance. She worked for them until the end of the season and was called back the next spring to work again. She worked mainly as a laborer and flagged very little.

The spring of 2011, Duffek Construction had very little work and told her to apply at other places. She contacted Integrity Grading and worked for them for part of the season. Then things slowed down, and I assisted her in getting a job with Earth, Inc. as a laborer until the end of 2011. They told me she was a very hard worker. In the spring of 2012, Earth Inc. was short on work and a friend told her about a gas station looking for a manager position close to home. Even though she knew this was not what she wanted to do long term, she took the job for the summer. By the end of the summer, she couldn’t stand it anymore and told me she had to get back into construction.

Lisa Working on Hwy 51

Early in the spring of 2012, she submitted applications all over. She heard that Pitlik and Wick in Eagle River was looking for a flagger for a project for most of the summer, so she applied. She called me the beginning of May to tell me that she was hired. After she finished flagging that summer, she volunteered to labor on the crew. Throughout this time, she had been receiving training in many different areas of their company.

In 2013, she flagged solo all summer on a very dangerous project on Highway 51 in Minocqua. I was told there was a very bad fire on the project during the summer and that she handled things well. I have heard nothing but great things about Lisa from this company. I have tried getting someone hired at this company for 12 years and she is the first, so I consider her a trailblazer. She continues to work at Pitlik and Wick today.

Congratulations Lisa on your accomplishments!

For information on the TrANS program and starting your construction career, email Kim Kircher or call 715-478-7633.