Issue link: http://www.insightdigital.biz/i/164142
insight on By Nikki Kallio Shipping & Logistics Packed with pride Community work centers fill niche in supply line, help people advance to new careers c o u r t e s y o f N E W C u r at i v e R e h a b i l i tat i o n C ompanies and organizations that employ people with disabilities to help fulfill client logistics needs have a broad mission to help their people stay employed. But they know they can't do that unless they've got a good business model. "We're very good at what we do," says Eric Gerarden, general manager of ProSolutions, which is connected to the non-profit NEW Curative Rehabilitation in Green Bay. ProSolutions might convince a manufacturing company to try them out simply because of their mission, but "unless you're actually able to meet the business need, you're not going to be able to build those business relationships and keep that business long term." More than 9 percent of Wisconsin residents of working age have a disability, and a third of those have a cognitive disability, according to the Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities. In August, the National Governors Association at its 105th Summer Meeting in Workers at ProSolutions in Green Bay put together kits for Endries, a producer of class "C" commodities such as electrical components and industrial supplies. ProSolutions employs people both with and without disabilities and recently became a for-profit company. Milwaukee encouraged states to work with businesses to improve employment opportunities for people with disabilities, and Wisconsin is already on the way. This year, the state has added 22 business services consultants to act as liaisons between the business community and the Department of "We're very good at what we do, (but) unless you're actually able to meet the business need, you're not going to be able to build those business relationships and keep that business long term." — Eric Gerarden, ProSolutions, affiliated with NEW Curative Rehabilitation, Green Bay 38 | Insight • S e p t e m b e r 2 013 Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR), which among other services works with people with disabilities as well as community work centers. The state is looking broadly at the needs of employers and manufacturers to see where the opportunities are for training and preparing people with disabilities to enter or re-enter the workforce, says Scott Schlicher, the business services consultant for the department's office in Green Bay. While DVR is focused on helping people find independent employment, it does work with community work centers to help people with disabilities prepare for that employment. Many of those kinds of centers, such as Lakeside Packaging Plus, are geared toward general hand labor such as assembly and fulfillment, hand w w w. i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m