Walker focuses on hiring people with disabilities

by Scott Bauer from The Chippewa Herald:
Nobody can fold a box quite like Patrick Young.
Gov. Scott Walker learned that first hand as Young, who has Down syndrome, led a 2012 tour of Tailored Label Products in Menomonee Falls. Young challenged Walker to put together specialized packaging used by the company _ think of it as a complicated pizza box _ as quickly as he could. As Walker fumbled at the flaps, Young adroitly snapped everything into place in seconds.
Walker said meeting Young helped inspire an initiative he unveiled in his State of the State speech last week. The effort, called "A Better Bottom Line," is aimed at getting more Wisconsin companies to hire people with disabilities including autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury and mental illness.
People with disabilities account for about 9 percent of the state's workforce, based on data provided by Disability Rights Wisconsin. But their employment rate is less than one-third that of workers without disabilities, and workers with disabilities on average earn 30 percent less.
Walker has proposed spending $800,000 by mid-2015 to expand an on-the-job training program for workers with disabilities. He hopes to expand the program from seven to 27 companies over the next three years.

NGA CHAIR TO HOST EXPERTS ROUNDTABLE ON EMPLOYING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

NGA CHAIR TO HOST EXPERTS ROUNDTABLE ON EMPLOYING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

WHO:            Delaware Governor Jack Markell, NGA Chair

                      South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard

                                   

WHAT:          As part of Gov. Markell’s A Better Bottom Line: Employing People with Disabilities Chair’s Initiative, this roundtable will gather experts from government, academia, and business to frame the issues around employment for individuals with disabilities. The roundtable discussion will identify promising state and business practices and develop a set of state policy options.   

WHERE:         Hall of the States Room 283/285

                      444 N Capitol Street NW

                      Washington, D.C. 

WHEN:           Wednesday, October 24, 2012

                      Sessions open to the media include:

                      8:30 a.m.                    Registration 

9:00 a.m.                    Welcome by Dan Crippen, NGA Executive Director

                                               

                      9:05 a.m.                  Opening Remarks by Gov. Markell and Gov.
                                                            Daugaard

                      9:30 - 11 a.m.             Round Robin: Introductions and Quick Fire Question

NOTE:           All media planning to attend must register RSVP to the NGA’s Office of Communications at 202-624-5301. Requests for individual interviews with Gov. Markell should also be directed to this number.         

Founded in 1908, the National Governors Association (NGA) is the collective voice of the nation’s governors and one of Washington, D.C.’s most respected public policy organizations. Its members are the governors of the 55 states, territories and commonwealths. NGA provides governors and their senior staff members with services that range from representing states on Capitol Hill and before the Administration on key federal issues to developing and implementing innovative solutions to public policy challenges through the NGA Center for Best Practices. For more information, visit www.nga.org.