Bento Box Entertainment’s Atlanta studio hosted a visit last Friday from U.S. Secretary of Labor Tom Perez, who was conducting a pre-Labor Day tour of five cities to praise job-creation efforts and created a cool short to commemorate the event.
Perez stopped by Bento Box because the animation company — which is animating Hulu’s The Awesomes, among other things — used the federally funded On the Job Training program to help staff the Georgia office. The studio connected with the program through the Georgia Department of Economic Development.
Here’s the short:
Art Director David SanAngelo, left, U.S. Secretary of Labor Tom Perez and Art Director Aaron Hawkins. Both Hawkins, who lead the tour of the studio on Aug. 22, and SanAngelo were hired as part of the OJT program, a federally funded program that is administered locally.Animation Director Aaron Hawkins, left, Sec. of Labor Tom Perez and background artist Siddeeq Saafir. Hawkins lead Sec. Perez on a tour of the Atlanta studio to showcase all the staff there, including himself and Saafir, who received job training through the federal On the Job Training program that aims to provide training for workers in the U.S. so jobs can stay here rather than be shipped overseas.From left: Asante Bradford, Project Manager, Georgia Dept of Economic Development; Brett Coker, COO, Bento Box Entertainment; Aaron Hawkins, Animation Director (and product of the job training program), Bento Box Atlanta; Tom Perez, Secretary, U.S. Department of Labor; Mia Pressley, Project Specialist, Atlanta Regional Commission; Mary Margaret Garrett, Workforce Solutions, Atlanta Regional Commission; and Craig Hartin, head of studio for Bento Box Atlanta.
