Excerpt from an interview with Chris Brandt, AtWork! CEO, on NW Focus. Click here to see the entire interview.

Our services to both employers and people with disabilities is very personalized and we’re there to be a solution to a business’s work force problems. We bring work place design and accommodations that can help everyone’s job be smoother faster more efficient, more productive. We call it universal design.

As an example we may look at an assembly or a process where things have to be put away in bins and they have to be labeled. So you look and see if this is “A”, “B”, “C” or “D”, “E”, “F” to find the right bin something goes in by reading. Sometimes people with cognitive disabilities don’t read so to do that job we may color code the item and the bin so that they can make the connection between the object and the bin where it belongs. When people who do read perform the same job using the colored bins, they do it way faster. They spend less time reading what the label says. Matching colors is easier for everyone. That is a really simple example of redesigning the workplace to make it more productive for everyone.

We can help an employer look at all aspects of employing a diverse work force. We can help them learn about and understand the Americans with Disabilities Act and their responsibilities in recruiting and hiring practices. Typically the job is not required to be advertised. There is no law that says you can’t hire someone by creating an employment position.

The Department of Labor has recognized Customized Employment as a way to help people with disabilities get jobs. Our President, the Department of Labor and our state government are all committed to getting people with disabilities jobs.