Welcome to SMG eNEWS™
2007, May 8th

The Solutions Marketing Group’s eNews is a bi-monthly communiqué that connects business to the market of people with disabilities.

Message From The Founder

Diversity + Inclusion
By Carmen Jones, Founder and President

This year we are featuring the SMG Equal Access ad campaign, designed to heighten awareness and understanding about people with disabilities. Our second ad focuses on diversity and inclusion.

Savvy companies want to include people with disabilities in marketing, diversity and inclusion programs, but they don't know how. SMG shows how to find this missing piece. The Solutions Marketing Group will ensure that when a company talks diversity, it'll always include 54 million consumers with more than $200 billion dollars to spend. As the leading consulting firm in the country specializing in disability marketing, education and recruitment, the Solutions Marketing Group develops programs that build sales, relationships and goodwill for clients.

View SMG's second ad here.

Warm regards,

Carmen D. Jones
President/Founder
info@disability-marketing.com

Profiles in Excellence
Profiles in Excellence is a monthly article, published by SMG, that features companies and organizations that demonstrate leadership in accessibility, employment, customer service and marketing to the nation's 54 million Americans with Disabilities.

CESSI Creates Opportunities
By Joan Leotta

For many employers, hiring someone with a disability may seem daunting. How do you make ADA-appropriate accommodations? Where can you find information on disability policies? Who can supply data on research studies that will help you plan what you need? To the CESSI Division of Axiom, offering “accessible solutions” for employers and individuals alike is more than just a catchphrase. CESSI specializes in bringing the electronic office within reach of persons with disabilities, improving productivity and job satisfaction, and giving expert counsel on disability and accessibility laws, regulations, and policies....
[ more information about this ]

Accessibility
sponsored by Universal Design Newsletter

Inclusive Fitness Coalition Will Open Doors for People with Disabilities By James Rimmer, NCPAD

The time has finally come for club owners, manufacturers of exercise and recreational equipment, and architects and developers who design and build health clubs, parks and playgrounds to understand the importance of making fitness facilities and programs more inclusive, so that people with disabilities can have an enjoyable and engaging experience like any other club member....
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Customer Service
sponsored by W.C. Duke Associates, Inc.

Business Brings Accessible Vehicle Modifications, Repairs to Missoula By Tyler Christensen, Missoulian

A Montana resident who underwent fibrocartilaginous embolization discovered that those who need their accessible vehicles modified or repaired have limited choices in western Montana. So he created a new company. The new business acts as a distributorship for several different kinds of wheelchair vans and accessible vehicles, and also sells disability equipment ranging from hand controls to wheelchair locks. It is capable of modifying various equipment to fit the individual and will install and repair the equipment as needed....
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Employment

Disability Experts Share Business Strategies
By Rebecca R. Hastings, SPHR, SHRM Online

Business and government leaders who gathered at Society for Human Resource Management headquarters just one day after the Virginia Tech shootings, found an important link between the tragic event and their reason for meeting. “You can be perfectly healthy, have 20-20 vision and be able to walk upright, and just like that you can become a person with a disability,” said W. Roy Grizzard Jr., assistant secretary for the Office of Disability Employment Policy at the U.S. Department of Labor. “Some of the people at Virginia Tech will now be people with a disability."...
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Marketing

Companies Team Up to Support America's Paralyzed Heroes From PR Newswire

Reality Racing, Inc. and Paralyzed Veterans of America, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, announced today a cross-promotional partnership to benefit America's paralyzed heroes. “Paralyzed Veterans strives to ensure that no American, especially those who risked their lives to protect the freedoms we take for granted every day, is denied access to employment, education, cultural activities or community life because of disability," said Mark C. Dowis, Associate Executive Director of Marketing and Development, Paralyzed Veterans. "We are extremely pleased that Reality Racing has taken up our cause and made it their own."....
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News & Announcements

Star-Studded Gala: "Teddy 25 - A Celebration of Life, Hope and Possibilities" June 10th, 2007-Philadelphia, Teddy Pendergrass Alliance From Teddy Pendergrass Alliance

Man with Disability Raises Money for Boston Medical Center
By Penny Williams, The Eagle-Tribune Online

Commission Says Army Might Be Skimping on Disability Payments
AP News, TheItem.com

Labor Department's Office of Disability Employment Policy Collaborates on Guidance for Faith Based Programs
US DOL, PR Newswire