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

When AtWork! places a person with disabilities in a customized job we’re really looking for a place in that business where a person with a disability can contribute in a way that the business may not have imagined. It’s not a job off the shelf, not a job advertised on Craig’s List were we fill out an application and compete with 20 other applicants to win that job.

We go in and we look at a business to discover ways a person with disabilities can contribute doing essential duties that typically free up other people with more technical skills to be more productive producing the businesses products or service. For example, a person with a disability works at Washington Square, the condo complex in downtown Bellevue. He is employed by The CWD Group, Inc., the property management firm that manages the complex. He’s not in a regular janitor or maintenance position. His position is designed for him but his position is vital to the rest of his crew.

There are 6,000 light bulbs in those buildings, 25 floors in each tower. Someone has to check to see if those light bulbs are still lit and track where they are. Hayden goes around and does that. He also cleans and polishes all the moldings and railings on all 50 floors. His work makes a huge difference for the people who live there and frees up the maintenance workers with different kinds of skills to deal with plumbing issues or wax the floors or other things that are not on Hayden’s job description. He has contributed to the bottom line in many ways and his employer is now looking to hire other people with disabilities that can contribute in unique ways.