Hire Ability Day

Initiated by a Spokane County Community Service program entitled “Real Choices” and funded by a grant from the state Developmental Disabilities Council in 2004, Hire Ability Day aims to increase opportunities for people with developmental disabilities in a tangible way.  

At the invitation of lynn pippard, Spokane County’s developmental disabilities coordinator, Greg Falk, Executive Director of The Arc of Spokane, joined a small group of community leaders to play a leading role in designing and carrying out Hire Ability Day, an event aimed at persuading area employers to hire people with developmental disabilities.

The first event, held on October 20, 2004, brought over 300 executives, individuals with disabilities, public officials and other community members together at the prestigious Davenport Hotel for a sumptuous luncheon where they learned about the benefits of “developmental diversity” in all areas of life, including the workplace. In the morning before the luncheon, fifteen employers hosted individuals with developmental disabilities at their work sites in an “on-the-job” get-acquainted session.

Avista Utilities president Scott Morris, serving as chair of the event, told the luncheon attendees that in 2003 the Investment Recovery program at Avista, which is staffed by a group of ten employees with developmental disabilities, has saved Avista shareholders $750,000. Rebecca Nappi, a columnist and editor at the Spokesman-Review, proved herself an expert master of ceremonies for the luncheon program. And keynote speaker David Morris, owner of Habitat International, a small manufacturing firm in Chattanooga, Tennessee, explained how his business has thrived against much larger competitors with a dedicated and skillful workforce that includes many employees with developmental disabilities.

Many of the employers and others who attended the luncheon reveled in the experience and, in the weeks following the event, several individuals with disabilities were hired as a result of Hire Ability Day. Click here to learn more about our upcoming Hire Ability Day, October 18, 2007.