19th annual Downtown Employee Appreciation Week sends special thanks to thousands of Milwaukee workers

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Since Monday, Milwaukee's Downtown Business Improvement District has been celebrating the thousands of employees that show up to work downtown every day.

This week marked Milwaukee's 19th annual Downtown Employee Appreciation Week.

The downtown BID calls it a "spirit week" for the workforce.

"They're a really important part of the revitalization of our downtown," said Alyssa Simmons, director of Public Service Ambassadors for Milwaukee Downtown. "We want to show appreciation for everybody that's coming into the office and coming to our downtown spaces, and also introduce them to some of the great people that are around."

The celebration started Monday, with gatherings for downtown employees each day at different parks around the city.

Friday's lunch break was at Pere Marquette Park, with free food, live music, giveaways, and games like axe throwing and basketball.

For nineteen years, Milwaukee Downtown has hosted this week to send the message that downtown employees are vital to the city's growth, especially after the COVID pandemic brought lot of people out of the office.

"It makes us feel a little appreciated. It makes us feel noticed that we're down here," said downtown employee, Jazmin Waters. "It's a lot of us down here, so to see everybody and their different corporations is amazing,"

The last event of the week was held at The Tap Yard at Schlitz Park. The first 50 downtown employees to arrive received free beer.

"Downtown is definitely the heartbeat of the city, and I think it's really important that we keep activities like this to bring people back," said downtown employee, Jeffrey Mosser.