Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | September 4, 2023 | Worcester Business Journal 33 Pride means business: the economics of inclusivity V I E W P O I N T E D I T O R I A L I n 1975, the Worcester Telegram reported "a film Sat- urday night and a parade Sunday will highlight the first 'Gay Pride Week' in Worcester." Organized by the Metropolitan Community Church and the "Worces- ter Homophile Organization, for- merly known as the Worcester Gay Union," supporters arrived from Boston, Providence, and Connecti- cut. Approximately 100 people marched from City Hall down Main Street to University Park, across from Clark University, bear- ing signs proclaiming "Gay Pride", "Gay Love", and "Gay Power." From that very first Pride march led by the brave citizens who were stoned and taunted by onlookers, to September 2023, where we will welcome an anticipated 20,000 festival-goers, we have all come a long way. Pride Worcester has evolved from a one-day march into an all-encompassing celebration, with events and activities spanning several weeks and for all ages. e growth of Pride hasn't come easily. rough intentional conversations and years of hard work, the local community has seen the importance of Pride, and the good it does for our city. Worcester has bought in! For the first time in Worcester's LGBTQ+ history, the City of Worcester has given its full support to Pride; this year the City will be Pride Worceter's presenting sponsor, a victory for Worcester's LGBTQ+ community and allies. Not only is the City supporting in meaningful ways, companies in Worcester's business community are all hands on deck. AIDS Project Worcester, a local nonprofit incorporated in 1987, stepped up majorly this year to serve as Pride Worcester's fiscal sponsor. We've received generous sponsorships from some of Worcester's leading organizations, who have made it a point to include their employee groups in the celebrations. Expect to see some out and proud inclusive businesses at the main Pride festival on Sept. 9 across downtown Worcester! While the Worcester festival is known as the last Pride Stop of New England, our fundraising is a year-round initiative. With the funds required to host a Pride of this caliber, it is important to Pride Worcester to make it back into the community, helping support local artists, ven- dors, makers, and small businesses. Pushing the needle beyond acceptance, Pride Worcester has helped ensure inclusivity for the historically marginalized LGBTQ+ community by growing the Pride Festival into a highly anticipated, economically beneficial, tourist attraction. Aer 50 years, the city's Pride festival has evolved into beautiful displays of love, joy, and community. is September, Worcester will see what it means to be a truly inclusive city. Pride Worcester hopes to see you there. Ariana Dello Stritto is the marketing officer at Bay State Savings Bank in Worcester. David Conner is the executive director of OutstandingLife, a statewide virtual senior center for LGBTQ+ elders. BY ARIANA DELLO STRITTO AND DAVID CONNER Special to WBJ A T H O U SA N D WO R D S B Y R A M Ó N L . S A N D O V A L Tap into the disabled workforce Ariana Dello Stritto T imothy Johnson says companies usually need some convincing to hire workers with intellectual and development disabilities, but once they do, the businesses are over the moon with the results. As vice president of the ASPiRE! program at Worcester nonprofit Seven Hills Foundation, Johnson creates partnerships with employers throughout Central Massachusetts to arrange jobs for Seven Hills program participants. He has partnered with companies like Leominster office furniture manufacturer AIS, where a small group of Seven Hills participants were at first given very limited work and the chance to prove themselves. What AIS found from that small test case is the work the group produced had a 0% product rejection rate, Johnson said. ose workers have a high focus on precision and doing the job right the first time. Since employed individuals with disabilities tend to have a much lower turnover rate than workers without disabilities, the Seven Hills cohort provides consistency to AIS' operations. Now, the manufacturer is working with other social service nonprofits, like e Arc of Opportunity in North Central Massachusetts, to hire more people from their programs. "Companies like AIS are constantly asking us if we have more people to send," Johnson said. At a time when unemployment rates remain near historic lows and employers across Central Massachusetts decry a shortage of qualified workers, people with disabilities are one of the last great untapped workforces. Of the 16.4 million non- institutionalized people with disabilities in the U.S., only about a third are employed, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Of course, the job needs to fit each potential worker's talents and capabilities – which is really no different whether an employee has disabilities or not – but open-minded businesses can seize on a real opportunity, if they find the proper fit. At the beginning, businesses can be understandably wary of partnering with a program helping disabled folks find work, oen believing they will need a lot of care and handholding, placing an extra burden on managers and coworkers, Johnson said. Instead, firms find people with disabilities are a reliable workforce that meets their product demands. e disabled workforce can provide consistency in jobs that historically have high turnover, like baggers at grocery stores. Businesses partnering with Seven Hills and others have found the arrangement creates a more positive dynamic with a company's entire workforce, as employees of all abilities prefer working for a place that cares for people. Beyond being a social good, employing workers with disabilities opens up a whole new world of possibilities for Central Massachusetts businesses. Taking the first step requires overcoming that initial trepidation, but once companies see how they and all their employees can benefit, it's a decision that can deliver a true win-win. The above Editorial is the opinion of the WBJ Editorial Board. The Viewpoint column, the A Thousand Words cartoon, and the Word from the Web commentary represent the opinions of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of WBJ or its staff. WBJ welcomes letters to the editor and commentary submissions. Send them to bkane@wbjournal.com. W W David Conner

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