Welcome to SMG eNEWS™
2007, Dec 5th

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

Best wishes from the Solutions Marketing Group team for a joyous holiday season and happy new year!

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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.

Walgreens: A Prescription for Opportunity
By Joan Leotta

But when those children are ready to graduate high school and enter the workforce, they often have no good options available to them. As a result, many adults with autism or other cognitive disabilities either receive state disability pay or are lifelong dependants on their parents. Thanks to an innovative program at the drugstore chain Walgreens, that scenario is not the case for a growing number employees nationwide. Hired as equals to their non-disabled peers, these individuals work at jobs that, by their nature, fit easily into the capabilities of a person with autism or cognitive disabilities. Unlike “sheltered workshop” situations, where people with disabilities work at lesser jobs for lesser pay, in Walgreens' new distribution centers, employees with disabilities work side by side with non-disabled workers and enjoy opportunities for advancement and job mobility....
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Featured Article
Special to Disability-Marketing.com

Gratitude By Joyce Bender, President and CEO of Bender Consulting Services

I believe one of the most important traits you should consistently incorporate into your life in 2008 is gratitude. As an example, a great company in America, WellPoint, lists gratitude as the top level of their “mood elevator”. When a business person has a spirit of gratitude, WellPoint believes he/she will be in a position to make the best business decisions for the enterprise. It is amazing that the top level trait is not initiative, perseverance, or another important trait – it is gratitude....
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Accessibility
sponsored by Universal Design Newsletter

All-access Jazz By Shaun Brady, Philadelphia Daily News

Admittedly, it can be overwhelming: A singer in a wheelchair scats while her quintet jams behind her; a sign-language interpreter translates music and lyrics into body language while an LED screen scrolls the lyrics and dialogue; an artist paints the music onto a huge canvas; and an audio describer attempts to explain it all. But that's one of the messages behind JazzArtSigns, the singer, Lisa Thorson, said of her multimedia show. It's designed to be accessible to people with disabilities, but that can make it disorienting for audience members who have all their senses intact......
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Customer Service
sponsored by W.C. Duke Associates, Inc.

Customer Service Beyond the ADA
By Allan Appel, ScrippsNews.com

Marketing a business or service to the disability community sometimes involves going beyond the minimum requirements of The Americans with Disabilities Act. A hotel's physical facility, for example, may meet ADA's accessibility requirements, but poor customer service practices can still dampen or even ruin the stay of a guest with disabilities. In a publication called ADA Business Connection: Expanding Your Market, the U.S. Justice Department outlines a number of accessible customer service practices in the hotel and lodging industry that serve to foster more business from guests within the disabled community.....
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Employment

Employment Gap Between Working-Age People With and Without Disabilities Continues
PRNewswire.com

A dramatic 42 percent employment gap separates working-age people with and without disabilities in the workforce, Cornell University researchers reported. The report states that 37.7 percent of people with disabilities are employed, compared with 79.7 percent of people without disabilities, making a gap of 42 percentage points. There are 22,382,000 people with disabilities of working age (21-64), 12.9 percent of the total working age population....
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Marketing

Web Marketing To A Segment Too Big To Be A Niche Abilities Buzz E-News

In the October 30 issue of The New York Times, Andrew Adam Newman reported that although 50 million people in the United States have some form of physical or mental disability, they spend money just as easily as others. But there are few efficient ways for advertisers to reach them, and that's what a new Web site, Disaboom.com, hopes to change. Disaboom is the brainchild of J. Glen House, who graduated from medical school after becoming a quadriplegic as a result of a skiing accident at 20. The site combines the social-networking features of Web sites like Facebook with information of interest to its constituency: medical news, career advice, dating resources and travel tips....
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News & Announcements

EARN Recruiting Jobseekers with Disabilities for Federal Government Careers with Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Stars Shined at the Spinal Cord Injury Hall of Fame Gala
National Spinal Cord Injury Association

Coalition Says Louisville, KY, Fares Well in Disability Access
By Katya Cengel, Louisville, KY, Courier-Journal

Vets Need to Access ‘Hidden Job Market'
By Marga Lincoln, Helena Independent Record