SmartScaping Landscaping & Design, a premiere Black-owned, Houston-based landscaping maintenance and design company, is expanding their “SmartScaping Cares” community program to offer students, age 16-25, immediate employment opportunities, paid internships as part of an upcoming Co-Op Program in partnership with HISD schools, and a career path toward entrepreneurship in the landscaping industry!

The SmartScaping Cares Youth Outreach initiative is designed to give young people a head start toward a career in a growing industry with immediate, well-paying jobs and the opportunity for students to earn academic credits and paid training while learning the practical hands-on maintenance and design side the trade, along with the office and management skills necessary to become an entrepreneur through the new Co-Op Program.

“SmartScaping Cares is all about giving back to the community and this new initiative is a way we can uplift and give back to the next generation of entrepreneurs,” said Bryan Smart, Founder & CEO of SmartScaping Landscaping & Design. “It’s really a unique opportunity for young people to explore and learn an industry they may not have considered as a career path. With student loan debt weighing heavy on a lot of families, we wanted to create a program that would incorporate horticulture education, practical skills, financial literacy and business skills, and paid training, to truly give young people a pathway to success.”

The SmartScaping Cares Youth Outreach program has immediate openings for young people, ages 16-25, for entry level associate jobs. The positions provide training and pay $15 per hour. Interested students must be able to lift 50 lbs., be willing to work as part of a team and must be able to work outside in the heat.

For the upcoming SmartScaping Cares HISD Co-Op Program, students must be at least 16 years of age, preferably entering their junior or senior year of high school. Students will earn both academic credit and a $15 per hour paid internship. Young people and students interested in immediate employment or the HISD Co-Op Program should email office@smartscaping.co for applications and more information.

SmartScaping, through its Cares program, has been giving back to the community with charitable services like free lawn care for seniors and veterans and volunteer community blight cleanup for the past five years.

Founder and CEO Bryan Smart, a 34-year-old entrepreneur who spent five years in public service with the City of Houston before launching his landscaping and design business, is no stranger to helping Houston’s youth put their best foot forward. In addition to the SmartScaping Cares program, which he launched with Former Houston City Council Member Jack Christie, he aided and implemented the first Houston Appreciation Week and initiated the Hire Houston Youth Program!

Smart turned a small, homegrown lawn service that started with two lawnmowers and a pickup truck in 2014, into a thriving landscape maintenance, design and construction company that provides maintenance and beautification services to over 80 commercial properties throughout Southeast Texas!

For more information on Youth Opportunities and the SmartScaping Cares program email office@smartscaping.co or visit http://www.smartscaping.co.