Welcome to SMG eNEWS™
2009, April 23rd

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

Message From The President

SMG Goes to the White House: The Climate for Small Business
By Carmen Jones, President

On March 16 I attended a meeting hosted by President Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. The purpose was to hear about the Administration's plans to assist small businesses. The meeting's attendees included a group of small business owners and community bankers who shared with the President and his advisors what small business owners and banks were experiencing in this economic environment. Since business has slowed in many sectors it's no surprise that small businesses are having difficulty largely because they can't access lines of credit since the banks have tightened them. As a result, there's a struggle to keep people employed and businesses solvent. Additionally, small businesses employ 60% of the workforce and the President stated that he wants to strengthen small businesses so he can keep the fabric of our economy's strength in tact. Many people with disabilities currently work in small businesses that are being impacted by the economic slowdown, and many are losing their jobs.

After we met in this smaller gathering, we dismissed and met with a larger group of stakeholders, the press and other Senate and Congressional leaders. Secretary Geithner gave his remarks. A business owner and small community bank provided their remarks and then the President spoke. During his speech the most amazing thing happened... he mentioned my company. I had no idea that would happen and I was quite honored and humbled he shared a bit about my story and mentioned the Solutions Marketing Group.

I'd love to hear from any small business owners who have disabilities; or who employ people with disabilities. I will share your insights with Kareem Dale, the Special Assistant to the President for Disability Policy, so we can connect and leverage our voices so the White House can hear from us. You may reach me directly at cjones@disability-marketing.com if you wish to share viewpoints.

And in case you'd like to see the President's speech, here is the link to the C-Span footage:
http://www.c-span.org/Watch/watch.aspx?MediaId=HP-A-16431.

Happy Spring!

Carmen D. Jones
President
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.

Ambassador for Human Rights: Luis Benigno Gallegos
By Joan Leotta

Americans with disabilities have enjoyed a significant increase in rights and accessibility in their local communities thanks to the Americans with Disabilities Act. But what about the world’s 650 million people with disabilities? Thanks to the leadership of Luis Benigno Gallegos, Ecuador’s Ambassador to the United States, the UN’s Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities now promises people with disabilities in 139 countries dignity, autonomy, equality, and solidarity with all citizens. “Society has to recognize that it should not exclude persons with disabilities. This is a very important group of people, representing ten percent of the world’s population,” says Ambassador Gallegos....
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Featured Article
Special to Disability-Marketing.com

Talk About It By Joyce Bender, President and CEO of Bender Consulting Services

On March 28, 2009, we had the 3rd Annual National Walk for the Epilepsy Foundation in Washington, DC with over 8,900 walkers. The point of the walk is to raise funds and awareness for the national Epilepsy Foundation and help us end the stigma attached to epilepsy. Today, people with epilepsy and other hidden disabilities need to Talk About It and not hide. We must come out of the shadows and realize that people should never, ever, be ashamed of a disability. We are a group of people who are a part of a disability culture like any other minority group; we are not a group of sick people who need to hide.
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Accessibility
sponsored by Universal Design Newsletter

Winner: The Freedom Home
By AARP

If you're looking for a house with interesting surprises, search no further than New Millennial Homes. The builders really show a knack for the fundamentals of universal design, including a concealed ramp to a large porch, wide doors and hallways, and a no-step shower. These and other details make the Freedom Home true to its name. It is replete with details that help residents adapt the home to life-altering circumstances, and it fully supports the option of aging in place....
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New Service Offers Feedback Opportunity for Users with Disabilities on Marriott.com--AFB Launches Accessibility Assurance Program
By American Foundation for the Blind

Marriott.com announced its participation in a new service provided by the American Foundation for the Blind called the Accessibility Assurance TM Program, which gathers feedback from users with disabilities to improve site accessibility. Marriott.com will apply new web design standards to its development process and introduce features allowing people with disabilities to use the site with greater ease....
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Employment

Sodexo Receives 2009 Disability Matters Award
By Sodexo, Inc.

Sodexo Inc. received the 2009 Disability Matters Award in the category of Work Life for its pioneering work and commitment to supporting people with disabilities and their families. The integrated food and facilities management company and its employee network group, Sodexo Organization for disAbilities Resources (SOAR), will be honored as one of nine award recipients during the Disabilities Matters Conference in New York City. During its first year, SOAR made great strides towards its goal to create a culture that embraces, values and fully utilizes persons with disabilities....
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Teenagers With Autism: Want a Job? New Programs Aim to Keep Kids With Autism Out of Institutions
By Nancy Shute, U.S. News & World Report

Autism is growing up. The children diagnosed with the developmental disorder in the 1990s are now teenagers, and they and their parents are starting to wrestle with the question of how they will live as adults. Around the country, innovative programs are now offering young people with autism a vital choice-the chance to work, go to college, or even start a business, rather than go on disability and be consigned to a sheltered workshop....
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A Society for All: Disability from Economic Viewpoint
By Kamal Lamichhane, NepalNews.com

The right of the disabled persons to equal access to socio-economic areas e.g. employment, education, health etc have not been properly reflected in the policy and legislation of the country. Justifiable expectations of equal access for them are still wishful thinking. As a result, it is not only the person, but the family as a whole is disabled socially and economically. No expert on disability is in the policy making level. Yet none of the political parties have their specific plans and policies in bringing persons with disabilities in the mainstream of the development....
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Marketing

Marketers Lend Voices to Show Support for the Disabled
Stuart Elliott, The New York Times

Efforts in advertising to pay attention to the disabled are accelerating even as the business of many marketers is slowing. The seeming contradiction is not surprising because in harder times many consumers begin thinking about weightier matters than the size of their homes or the features on their phones. In a survey 75 percent of respondents said that companies “need to be even more charitable and responsible to their communities” during the economic downturn. That shift in attitudes represents an opportunity to connect with the public on less mercenary — and more altruistic — levels....
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News & Announcements

American Airlines and AAPD to Honor Positive Portrayals of Disability
By AAPD

Special Olympics Takes On Use of 'R-word'
By Jessica Ravitz, CNN

Sign Petition to Make Kindle 2 e-book Reader Accessible

Free DOL Database of More Than 1,900 Job Candidates With Disabilities Now Available to Employers
By U.S. Dept. of Labor