National APSE 2010 Conference Employer Leadership Forum Recap

With increased attendee interaction and a strong employer panel that featured both local and national business representatives, the 2010 Employer Leadership Forum produced a valuable, business-based conversation about supported employment that will carry into the year to come.

Bob Niemiec, the Director of the Minnesota Employment Training and Technical Assistance Center (MNTAT), kicked the forum off with a presentation about supported employment, its history, and the importance of this field in improving the lives of the many individuals it serves. Following Mr. Niemiec’s presentation, one of the panelists, Al Blackwelder, the Chief Operating Officer of Emory Healthcare’s Wesley Woods Center in Atlanta, reiterated that supported employment is an important asset to the business community. 

 

Like any employment strategy or business partnership, Mr. Blackwelder emphasized that “it all centers around relationships.” When these relationships with the supported employment profession are successful, they result in talent acquisition that reaches the same outcome as any other successful employment strategy: “We have sourced that job to somebody who’s absolutely, perfectly qualified for that position, better than anybody else.”

 

In the panel conversation that followed, Neil Romano, former Assistant Secretary of the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), agreed with Mr. Blackwelder, saying business should not “hire people with disabilities if you’re going to hire them as a favor.” He furthered this by saying that supported employment “isn’t about compliance, it’s about embracing. Accepting people for who they are, what they can do, and giving them the opportunity to actualize.” 

 

Romano emphasized that the greatest need that business will have in the 15 years to come is people, and he encouraged businesses to rethink their approach to accommodating their employees. He challenged them to look at accommodation as an opportunity for the company at-large and asked, “Why wouldn’t it be better to know what every single person in your company needs to do their job and give it to them?”

 

Additional experience testimony from the other panelists continued to support the business case for supported employment. The panel was comprised of Angela Mackey from Walgreens, Geoffery Mohs from Jones Day Law Firm in Atlanta, and Josh Ford from the Georgia Aquarium in addition to Blackwelder and Romano. The panel was facilitated by Leslie Wilson, President and CEO of Wilson Resources.

 

Following the panel conversation, panelists joined attendees in a dynamic roundtable discussion that allowed for active processing of the information presented as well as the chance to respond and exchange insight with fellow attendees. As the forum ended, several people remained at their tables, still talking about the presentations – a good sign that the forum’s discussion was relevant, and will continue on into the year to come!