Page 24 - ABILITY Magazine - Best Practices Employment

talented and all-too-often untapped resource. To help turn the tide, they proposed a new forum that would bring together a wide range of Connecticut employers to explore how hiring people with disabilities could benefit their businesses.
Out of these discussions came the Gift of Opportunity Symposium, now an annual event that provides multi- ple opportunities for Connecticut businesses. Employ- ers can observe panel discussions with companies that are active in hiring workers with disabilities, hear per- sonal stories from the employees themselves and learn about organizations that support businesses in working successfully with employees who have disabilities. A question-and-answer session encourages employers to present all the questions they have wanted to know but may have been embarrassed to ask—about accommo- dations, transportation, universal design in offices, recruitment of workers with disabilities, requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), etc. Another integral part of the symposium is a disability resource fair, where employers can find qualified work- ers with disabilities and learn tools for keeping them.
“We want to dispel some of the myths about what is involved in hiring and retaining qualified workers with disabilities,” explains Bridget Kemmling, Connecti- cut’s equal opportunity officer. “We want to show why employing people with disabilities makes good busi- ness sense. We also want to take some of the mystery out of the process for companies by connecting them with people and resources that can help them address common barriers.”
The real challenge for the Connecticut Department of Labor was developing a strategy to get employers to the table to join this conversation. They first tapped into their relationships with 17 chambers of commerce from across Connecticut, as well as the Connecticut Business and Industry Association, to help market the event to Connecticut employers.
The results so far have been impressive. The first Gift of Opportunity Symposium attracted 225 business representatives, with the number growing in subse- quent years. Companies of all sizes attend, including some corporate giants. These businesses represent all facets of commerce and industry, including hospitals, banks, large retailers and manufacturers.
Jane Rath of Earnworks, an organization funded through the U. S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy to help companies recruit and screen talented applicants with disabilities to fill their job vacan- cies, travels around the country promoting employment opportunities for people with disabilities. Rath was a pan- elist at the last two Gift of Opportunity Symposiums and remarks, “It was great to be at an event with such a terrific employer turnout. I am impressed with what Connecticut has been able to accomplish in only a few years.
Connecticut Burea of Rehabilitation Services Director, Breanda Moore, talks with a representative from the New England Assistive Technology (NEAT)
After a successful inaugural event in 2004, the Department of Labor wanted to further increase the size and scope of the symposium, but it lacked the funding to do so on its own. The agency decided to approach Aetna Insurance to ask if the company would join as a partner in sponsoring the event. The response was a resounding “yes.” Through Aetna’s financial support, the Department of Labor was able to make the next Gift of Opportunity Symposium free for employers, complete with breakfast and lunch for all participants. “We wanted to remove any of the typ- ical barriers that might make an employer reluctant to attend an event of this type,” says Connecticut Labor Commissioner Patricia Mayfield. “We knew this was a challenging topic and we’d have to be creative to get companies to attend.”
Mayfield is delighted that the event has been popular beyond the agency’s expectations, providing so many employers the opportunity to learn. “I certainly think we have a responsibility to ensure that qualified workers with disabilities are afforded opportunities to work. But most employers will find that when they make the effort to employ an individual with a disability, that responsibility quickly transforms into an asset for the company.”
The 2005 symposium featured a panel of high-per- forming Connecticut employers who shared one com- mon bond: they all employ workers with disabilities who have positively impacted their operations. These companies included Aetna Insurance, Pfizer, Liberty Bank, W.E. Bassett Co. and ShopRite. Ted Kennedy Jr. was the keynote speaker for the event. “We felt it was important for the business community to hear tes- timony from other employers about how workers with disabilities benefited their businesses, rather than just hearing it from government,” says Kemmling.