Employing People with Disabilities
As a businessperson, you know that your company's biggest asset is its well-qualified workforce, made up of individuals who tap their varied backgrounds, experiences, employment histories, qualifications and training to produce a top-notch product or service. Over the years, business leaders across America, including those in Central Indiana, have learned that every member of that workforce need not look or behave exactly alike and that, in fact, diversity enriches the workplace.
That's the concept behind the Indianapolis Business Leadership Network, a group of local businesspeople who believe that individuals with disabilities have much to offer Central Indiana employers. The unemployment rate hovers around 40 percent for people with disabilities, so they make up an enormous, untapped labor pool at a time when businesses are looking desperately for skilled workers.
Network members are so enthusiastic about the potential of these individuals that they want to share the good news with their business colleagues across the region. IBLN was created, with the support of IPIC, to promote the hiring of people with disabilities.
The network has sponsored five annual Accessibility and Diversity Job Fairs, where employers and job seekers with disabilities can connect. Forty-three employers and 200-250 job seekers attended the fair in 2007.
In addition, the network sponsored Indianapolis's first Disability Mentoring Day in fall 2005, followed with Disability Networking Day in fall 2006. In 2007, the job fair was combined with the Mayor's Summit on Inclusive Employment, where Erin Riehle, MSN, RN, a national leader in promoting employment opportunities for people with disabilities and other barriers to employment, spoke. She is a founder of Project SEARCH, an employment and transition program that has received national recognition for innovative practices.