Mainebiz

V O L . X X I V N O X X V I I I P ast the showroom of cottage- style beds, tables and dressers in cheerful blues and greens is the 23,000-square-foot Maine Woodworks shop where the furniture is custom-built, painted and assembled in Saco. "It's a good place to work," parts department assistant Scott David Bogdahn says as he drills a hole into a narrow strip of wood. After two decades on the payroll and the means to travel to places like Hawaii and Bermuda, he says his favorite part of the job is his co-work- ers. "You can make a lot of friends here." Tina Marie Stevens, here on a day off to demonstrate her sanding skills, is more direct about what she likes best: "Getting paid!" ough each has an intellectual disability, they're an integral part of the team at Maine Woodworks. e furni- ture manufacturer and wholesaler was founded in 1991 as part of Creative Work Systems, a Westbrook nonprofit whose mission is to support individuals with disabilities. Maine Woodworks does that by investing proceeds from its sales — which totaled $1.25 million last year — into the social mission. It also employs an integrated workforce of people with and without disabilities. All earn a competitive wage of $11.25 to $20 an hour, and those who have a disability are appreciated for their strong work ethic and enthusiasm. "You're not going to find more dedicated employees," says operations director Dave Gallati, whose office is decorated with Bogdahn's hand-drawn portraits of staff and a Valentine card full of signatures. "Oftentimes they're more reliable than folks who allegedly don't have disabilities, but everybody has limitations. We try to be inclusive and recognize that certain people have more limitations than others, so we'll challenge them and get them exposure to as much as we can." As a private enterprise competing in the marketplace, Maine Woodworks has helped the nonprofit trim its reliance on state funding. at's no small task for a company with a workforce of fewer than 20 that only recently began using marketing to get its story out. It's an important story to tell given the lack of job opportunities for adults with a disability, and the extra effort and training required of employers. Underused talent pool From 2012-16, fewer than a third of working-age Mainers with a disabil- ity were employed, compared to 80% employment for others, according to the Maine Department of Labor. Over the same period, the unemploy- ment rate among those with a disabil- ity was three times that that of others. National percentages were similar. Part of the challenge to finding work may be the fact that adults with a dis- ability tend to be older, with nearly half 65 or older in 2017, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. It's not only physical handicaps that keep people from finding work but also intellectual disabilities — examples include autism and Down syndrome — which affect an estimated 6.5 mil- lion Americans. e U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission notes that the majority of adults with an intellec- tual disability — which can encompass limitations on cognitive ability and everyday skills including communica- tion — are either unemployed or under- employed despite their aptitude, desire and willingness to engage in meaning- ful work. at's not the case at Maine Woodworks and other employers in the state who have hired — and retained — adults with disabilities not just for altruistic purposes, but also because it makes good business sense. ey include Goodwill Industries of Northern New England, whose Job Connection program has placed workers with disabilities in sectors like technology, finance, retail, health- care and construction, according to Heather Stott, executive director of Workforce Services at Goodwill. "Work is about purpose, being a part of community, as well as earning a wage and gaining personal stability," she says. Heidi Howard, executive director of Creative Work Systems, in the Maine Woodworks furniture showroom; and Dave Gallati, director of operations of Maine Woodworks, in the company's furniture workshop in Saco. P H O T O S / J I M N E U G E R Able to work Disability not a handicap at some Maine employers B y R e n e e C o R d e s F O C U S Tina Marie Stevens at the sanding station in the Maine Woodworks workshop in Saco. Scott David Bogdahn at his workstation in the Maine Woodworks workshop in Saco. 16

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