Business advisory councils in the rehabilitation process

American Rehabilitation,  Winter, 1992  by Roberta Y. Housman

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Projects With Industry (PWI) programs funded by the Rehabilitation Services Administration are required to have a Business Advisory Council (BAC) functioning in a leadership capacity to the project. These BAC's may differ in terms of numbers of members or types of industries represented; however, the BAC generally reflects the local community and its labor market.

The National Center for Disability Services in Albertson, New York, has three funded PWI projects.

The first is a recently funded national program with five satellite sites located in independent living (IL) centers. The BAC's at these sites are just getting organized. However, there is general excitement on the part of both business and IL staff about the potential success of working together.

The second project, Twin Forks PWI, which is located in the most eastern portion of Long Island, provides placement services in a rural setting. This project has developed an advisory council that consists of primarily small employers. Although small in number, these employers actively assist project staff in acquiring employment opportunities for their consumers, despite a very high unemployment problem. By working together, they have scheduled meetings on the employment requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and agreed to make personal contacts with small business people who are unable to attend meetings but who need to understand ADA and be open to hiring people with disabilities.

The third project, Metro PWI, operates in the New York metropolitan area serving an urban and suburban population of people who are disabled. This project has a BAC that has been in operation for many years. The general membership of close to 300 representatives of more than 150 companies is active in both hiring people with disabilities and in providing leadership and direction to the staff. This council provides input on new employment opportunities, training curricula and equipment, labor market trends, industry hiring standards, and direct assistance to consumers experiencing difficulty in obtaining employment. The active employer representatives provide opportunities for field trips to their facilities, provide practice interviews, and serve as mentors, technical reviewers, guest lecturers, and staff advisors.

This BAC is organized to include an executive committee, subcommittees for each training area, a special placement committee for consumers experiencing difficulty in obtaining work, and a general advisory membership group that meets for purposes of awareness training and employment of people with disabilities.

Consumer involvement has increased in recent years as graduates of the center's programs have been named by their employers to serve on various BAC committees.

The center, through its PWI projects, provides employer services and support both locally and nationally. At the local level, services include placement, followup, and technical assistance on accessibility, reasonable accommodations, and disability awareness. At the national level, the project utilizes the network and services of the center's Industry-Labor Council (ILC), which is a membership organization of over 181 major corporations and labor unions. ILC membership services include an information hot line, monthly mailings of relevant books and articles, accessibility surveys, membership service meetings, conferences, and seminars. ILC members have taken a leadership role in establishing the five national PWI satellite site BAC's.

Project staff and business advisors provide ongoing technical assistance to other projects, employers, and interested parties. Technical assistance has been provided to large and small employers, rehabilitation professionals in both the private and public sectors, and professionals in the field of special education, who are responsible for assisting in the implementation of successful transition from school to work practices. Participating employers sharing their knowledge and experience with other employers are a vital key to the success of the PWI partnership.

In March 1992, Mr. David Engel, as the chairperson of the National Center's Metro Projects With Industry program, was invited to testify before the Select Education Subcommittee, Education and Labor Committee, United States House of Representatives. Mr. Engel encouraged the expansion of the PWI program throughout the nation. He has been actively involved in every aspect of a PWI program and is the Vice President of Finance for Bertan Associates, Inc., of Long Island, New York, an electronics manufacturer of a high-voltage power supply. His company employs over 120 people in such jobs as electronic assemblers, electronic technicians, engineers, and support staff. Through its involvement in the Projects With Industry program, this firm has employed over 20 PWI job applicants.

Mr. Engel told the Committee that labor projections indicate that the growth of American business will be not in the large multinational firms, but rather in the small to medium-sized companies. It has been noted that small to medium-sized companies have been the hardest to reach with information on the Americans with Disabilities Act and the "how-to's" regarding employment of people with disabilities, because they do not have layers of management staff who can attend or travel to meetings and conferences or have the support training staff of the larger companies. Mr. Engel believes that the PWI program provides an ideal mechanism for such outreach and involvement. He stressed three major points.