1. Compliance? National Partnerships and Effective Strategies for Competitiveness
USBLN- October 2013
Beth Butler, JD, Manager, Centralized Leaves and Accommodations, Lowe’s Companies Inc.
Kathy West-Evans, MPA, CRC, Director of Business Relations for the NET at CSAVR
Mike Corso, Co-Founder, disaBLEDperson Inc.
Kristopher Corso, TAP Project Manager, disABLEDperson Inc.

2. Beth Butler

3. Partnerships that…

4. Partnerships-Built to Last
USBLN/NET
CSAVR –NET Commitment
Businesses Engaged
2004
CSAVR National Employment Conference

5. Response to Business
The National Employment Team, (NET) - a national connection to a single point of contact in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the territories
Connection to qualified applicants, resources and services whenever and wherever our business needs the support

6. Beth’s Tool Box
80 publicly funded vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies
Access to 25,000 professionally trained VR Staff in coordination with their community partners
Supported by a 3.5 billion dollar annual budget to train and employ the talents of people with disabilities

7. Business Services Pre-employment Services Recruitment
EO/Affirmative Action
Retention
…and now

8. Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation (CSAVR)
Membership organization of VR Directors
80 agencies: every state, territories, D.C.
Federal/State funded $3.5 billion
25,000 staff
Serve one million people with disabilities annually
Partnered with the VA-VR&E, AIR
Largest talent pool of people with disabilities in the country
Supported by VR leadership and Business Consultants
Vendor Network of10,000 Community Partners

9. Building the NET: We Asked our Business Customers
National in Scope - VR as One Company
Dual Customer Model
Customer Driven Network
Build relationships and trust
The National Employment Team (NET)
Easily Accessible Network: build the infrastructure for national deliverability
80 VR Points of Contact – Business Consultants
VR Systems: Veterans VR&E , AIR
Community Partners – Vendor Network
Leverage the Strengths of a National System with the Ability to Deliver at the Local Level Based on the Needs and Footprint of the Business Customer

10. Value Added Services: Defined by Business Customers
Pre-Employment
Internships
Training
HR/Staffing
Recruitment & Promotion
Benefits &Compensation
Retention Supports
Employee Advisory Services
Accommodations
Work Site Assessment
Assistive Technology
Staff Training
Disability Awareness
ADA Employment Laws
Financial Supports
WOTC
Barrier Removal
Universal Designs
Contracts
Facilities
Programs/Services
Assistive Technology
Information Technology
Diversity Programs
Compliance
EEO and Affirmative Action
Legal
Labor Relations
Policy Development
Risk Management
Product Development
Customer Service
Marketing & Outreach

11. Developing a Strategy with Business Agreement with Lowe’s – Federal Contractor
The Agreement:
Strategic Plan: Business Operations: Corporate, Retail and Distribution
Corporate Support
Human Resources
Training
Facilities
Legal
Current Models
Job and Site Analysis
Four tiered approach: competitive, assisted or transitional employment, pre-training, retention
Disability awareness package

12. Agreement with Lowe’s – Federal Contractor Moving from Compliance to Gain the Competitive Edge
Year 1 Outcomes : 556 hires at corporate, in retail and at distribution centers
States: AL, AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, IL, IN, IA, LA, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MS, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, SC, TX, UT, VT, VA WA, WI, WY
Year 2: added focus
Increased focus on retail sites
Centralized accommodation unit
Online application process
Hiring
Retention
National Contract – Interpreters and VRI
Technical assistance and expertise
◦ Disability Awareness Package - Company Wide

13. The Future of Disability Employment
The Federal Executive Order
What is it?
What can we learn?
How does this impact the available talent pool?
Federal Contractors – Section 503
Model Agreements – Outcomes
Strategic Approach - company specific
Partners – the talent pools and supports
Strategic Alliances and Partnerships
OPM
USBLN
NILG
Talent Acquisition Portal®
Built with a dual customer approach
National and Centralized
Partnerships – future development: VA and AIR, general public
Candidates with a range of skill sets and geographic availability
Building career strategies with the future workforce
Voluntary Self-disclosure

15. The TAP Partnership
Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation
Membership organization of VR Directors
80 agencies: every state, territories, D.C.
Serve one million people with disabilities annually
The NET
80 VR Points of Contact – Business Consultants
Customer Driven Network
disABLEDperson Inc.
Helping to reduce the unemployment rate of Veterans and individuals with disabilities nationwide.
Two national job boards for individuals and veterans with disabilities

16. What is TAP? Talent Acquisition Portal® TAP offers Business:
Centralized talent pool of Vocational Rehabilitation Candidates
Job Posting system for business
Online system
TAP offers Business:
Opportunity to post jobs
Opportunity to search VR candidates Resumes
Opportunity to brand their jobs to disability community.
Located at tapABILITY.org
The largest talent pool of candidates with disabilities in the United States offered by Vocational Rehabilitation

17. How it works

18. Benefits for Employers
Posting Jobs that will reach all 80 Agencies in 50 States, Territories, and DC
Voluntary Self-Disclosure of Candidates
State of the art Semantic job matching system
State of the art API which will integrate seamlessly with any company career site.
Resume searching
Job Reporting Metrics
The largest centralized talent pool of individuals with disabilities
The ability to decide if communication between employer is with Counselors only, or Candidates as well.
VR Counselors searching your Jobs as well as Candidates
Ability to profile company on a Company Profile Page
Online Job Fairs
Linkage Agreement Concept
Geographic availability of Candidates

19. What separates TAP:
Linkage Agreement Concept: TAP allows business to make one agreement that will cover 80 agencies across 50 States and US Territories (The NET).
Talent Pool: TAP holds the largest centralized talent pool of individuals with disabilities in the nation.
By being on TAP, individuals with disabilities are voluntarily Self-Disclosing.
TAP offers a National Support system where up to 25,000 VR staff will work to have candidates see your jobs.
Future expansion will include partnerships with the VA, AIR, and the general public.

20. How can business partner with TAP for effective strategies and competitiveness?
By becoming an active employer in TAP
Posting jobs in the Talent Acquisition Portal® provides an opportunity to establish a linkage agreement concept with The National Employment Team (The NET) that allows employers to connect to the largest talent pool of individuals with disabilities in the United States.
Agreement will reach 80 agencies, in 50 states, Territories, and DC.
Brand your company to the disability community through the Talent Acquisition Portal®
By making it your focus to “TAP into Talent” at tapABILITY.org