100 Ohio Businesses Join Network Focusing on Value of Hiring People with Disabilities

100 Ohio Businesses Join Network Focusing on Value of Hiring People with Disabilities

A Record Number of Ohio Businesses Commit to Strengthen Employment Opportunities

(COLUMBUS, OH) – One hundred businesses are now members of the Ohio Business Leadership Network a peer-to-peer business organization that provides employers with information and resources about how best to recruit, select, train and retain a workforce that includes individuals with disabilities.

“Hiring individuals who have disabilities brings a wealth of benefits to a company,” said Kevin Miller, director for Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities, the state agency responsible for providing services to Ohioans with disabilities to achieve quality employment and independence. “Myths, fears and misunderstanding too often are the barriers to hiring people with disabilities. The Ohio Business Leadership Network and its members take down these barriers by being progressive in their approaches to looking at the abilities of people and to this relatively untapped workforce resource/labor market.”

There are more than 1.5 million individuals with a disability in Ohio. More than 800,000 of these Ohioans are of working-age (between 16 and 64). The most recently published Vocational Rehabilitation Comprehensive Statewide Needs Assessment estimated that more than 100,000 of working age Ohioans with disabilities are seeking employment.

“We are proud to achieve this milestone that makes Ohio one of the largest and most active affiliates of the Business Leadership Network in the country because it means more Ohio businesses have access to resources to help enhance hiring and retaining a workforce that includes people with disabilities,” said Mitch Morgan, president of the Ohio Business Leadership Network and assistant vice president, diversity and inclusion strategy manager for Fifth Third Bank.

Through the Ohio Business Leadership Network, members have access to the following:

  • Learning best business practices from Ohio companies that have successfully employed people with disabilities and benefited from a diverse workforce representative of Ohio’s largest minority group;
  • Employer-focused training provided at no charge at employer worksites through webinars;
  • Federal contractors can receive assistance with meeting section 503 requirements and connections to qualified candidates with disabilities;
  • Connections to the U.S. Business Leadership Network, a national association of experienced employers;
  • Quarterly meetings for business contacts;
  • Networking opportunities;
  • Consultation opportunities with peers;
  • Hiring resources such as the newly released Employer Toolkit for Hiring People with Disabilities: http://bit.ly/1Psc6cE

Membership in the Ohio Business Leadership Network is free. Businesses interested in becoming members can find information at: www.ohiobln.org. Ohio is an affiliate of the U.S. Business Leadership Network which represents 51 chapters and more than 5,000 employers across the U.S.. In 2014, the Ohio was awarded outstanding Affiliate of the Year for its work to help businesses hire more workers with disabilities.

For more information contact: Beth Gianforcaro, (614) 438-1467, beth.gianforcaro@ood.ohio.gov

 

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