Breakfast highlights benefits of hiring disabled employees

By Owen Boss

LEOMINSTER — The North Central Career Centers and Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission held its second annual Diversity Awareness Breakfast For Employers Tuesday at the Doyle Conservation Center, as a way for outreach organizations to inform employers about the benefits of hiring employees with disabilities. William Linnehan, director of the career centers, said that there is so much that has come together for these hires to be possible, and it begins with offering job training to individuals with disabilities and ends with employers giving these people a chance. “This business is a puzzle, and there are so may pieces that have to come together,” said Mr. Linnehan. “It is you who are that missing piece. You the employers, you all have to do your part to bring these people into the work force.” Also on hand at the breakfast was Leonard Cooper, the area director of the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission, who stressed that businesses hire applicants with disabilities because they are a valuable part of the state’s work force. “This program really works in two parts: first we have the consumer with a disability that comes to us for job training, and we also have you the employer who have personnel needs that have to be addressed,” said Mr. Cooper. “We aren’t coming up here and saying ‘we should be nice and hire people with disabilities,’ that would be a waste of time. What we are doing is telling you to hire these people because they are well-qualified and trained and that they truly are job-ready.” HealthAlliance Hospital has been one of the most involved institutions in the region when it comes to adding individuals with disabilities to their staff, and Corporate Vice President of Facilities David Duncan said that it is because it has proven to be easy and beneficial. “We at HealthAlliance are a major employer for the surrounding communities. At times we are big, but we are also small at heart,” said Mr. Duncan. Mr. Duncan emphasized the importance of getting past the notion that employing individuals with disabilities will make managing a company or business harder, because it is through his extensive experience working with the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission that he has learned otherwise. “I have to tell you that employing people with disabilities starts with good leadership, and as you get down to a management level the initial response is generally going to be that it is hard enough to hire anybody, let alone adding someone with a disability to staff,” said Mr. Duncan. “I have to say that over the last seven to nine years we have formed a great partnership with the MRC, and we are proud to say that today we have many employees that we have had recommended to us from these programs.” The final speaker at the breakfast was Fitchburg Mayor Lisa Wong, who congratulated all of the employers who attended the breakfast, and said that this particular region has worked especially hard toward the inclusion of a diverse work force. “Especially in north central Massachusetts, we are an area that really focuses on inclusion from a number of different standpoints,” said Ms. Wong. “Whether it be ethnicity, income, or disabilities we have many different types of people that live in this region and one of the things I’ve found is that we are a tight-knit community that has a number of different organizations based on inclusion.” Ms. Wong added that from her standpoint, as a head of a public agency that has 1,300 employees, she has made a personal committment to remain focused on inclusion. For the past 10 years, north central Massachusetts-area employers have won more Governors’ Exemplary Employers Awards than any other area in the commonwealth. The award is given to employers who have gone above and beyond to provide employment opportunities and enrich economic independence for those people with disabilities. oboss@thegardnernews.com

Appeared on Page 1 on 6/18/2008 (Vol. 206 No. 144)