comprised of the association of the california engineering companies, african-american chamber of commerce, the hispanic chamber of commerce, the mexican contractors, and the list goes on and on. we meet on a regular basis and they advise me on ways of increasing utilization of the small businesses, disadvantaged businesses, and disadvantaged -- disabled veterans enterprise businesses. as you can see, if you can look at our statewide small business council, which covers the entire estate, a number of our council members are actually included in this statewide, including fred jordan, which i'm sure most of you know. he is a good friend. he's certainly the most recognized figure in the state advocating for increased participation of underrepresented and disadvantaged businesses, and we are grateful and lucky to have him committed to our council. with the state of the state and the state of our nation and the fiscal condition, we're all asked to do more with less. we're all asked to do -- with less employees, with less resources. one of the employees that you should know, which is -- i put the contact info

of what we do. we are very engaged with various chambers, you know, throughout the chicagoland area. whether it's the chicagoland chamber of commerce, whether it's the hispanic chamber of commerce, i mean, you name it, we're involved with them and they're involved with us. and the great news is we are a huge resource for them, essentially a staffing center at this point. you know, we have been learned to be trusted, you know, so that as people are graduating from our programs, if they're getting a referral from us, they know that this person's not only been successful in the building the right type of foundation and getting the life skills and, you know, the job training and the things that they need to be successful but they also know how to follow through and execute on the jobs for an employer. they become a very productive employee. just first hand, you know, to tell you, a safe haven is an employer of many of our graduates. you know, we have about 180 employees, and i want to say at least 50 percent of our employees are graduates of our programs. we have a very intense professional development training program. so we train people that have gone through

hispanic chamber of commerce, on the board of kohl's, and this speaks to you, doesn't it, andrew?. >> comerica and start up america chaired by steve case. our guest host george p. bush. >> if you take out the p. sounds like we have george w. on the set. >> yes. ryan i'll toss to him and act like he's here and we'll have more with george -- this george bush, i'm glad to have this george bush. nina, so 1996 is when you founded this company, and it's a huge deal at this point? >> it's been 16 years and one of the fastest growing companies in the country, seven years in our country we're proud of that. >> how many employees now? >> over 4,000 people in north america, the united states and canada and made an acquisition of probate a software as a service tool that managing contingent labor in billions of dollars to spend now so we're truly global. >> not everyone knows what the company does, a staffing vendor management and information technology company. >> we're in the ever growing industry of providing i.t. temporary labor to the fortune 500, which by the way the united states hit a

going out to the committee to at how can we reach out to the latino community, national hispanic chamber of commerce, the g.i. forum, your organization. a lot of organizations out there that are doing good work need that kind of support. i think it's identifying those groups. whatever i can do to help you with a, and everyone who would be glad to do that. >> we are happy to know. just to build on john's comments, too, i'm glad you raised the question because our trio programs are important investment in this broader effort to really boost college attainment and completion, and ultimately they are great lifelines to be up to help are first generation college goers, some of our lowest income students the able to successfully complete their degree and find a job. so whether it is up or down or talent search, veterans upward bound is a tremendously successful and important investment and program. out upward bound math and science program, all these programs are an important part of this broader effort to really get more of, whether it's a returning vet or some of our young people even start as early as

when we see how can we reach out to the latino community and the national hispanic chamber of commerce, the g.i. bill, the organization, a lot of organizations out there that are doing good work need that kind of support. i think it is i did decide in those groups to assess what ever i can do to help you if that and i know everyone here will be glad to do that. >> and what you raised the question because our programs are important investments in this broad effort to really boost to inflation and ultimately the of lifeline to be of help the first generation college doors. some of our lowest income students really would be able to cut successfully complete their degree and find a job so whether it is the talent search, veterans of or down this tremendously successful and important investment for them come up or down science programs. all of these programs are important parts of this broad effort to get more whether it is a returning vet or some of our young people even starting as early as ninth or tenth grade. the education that the need and the pathway that they need to be able to succ