Envision Industries Provides Quality Printing While Combating the Visually Impaired Unemployment Rate
Envision Industries is one of the few companies in the country trying to lower the high unemployment rate of the blind.
The exceptionally high unemployment rate of those who are blind and visually impaired in the United States never seems to waiver. Envision Industries is one of the few companies in the country (and in the printing industry) that has made it its mission to try to do something about it.
Statistics found on the American Foundation of the Blind’s website indicate that in 1994 and 1995, unemployment rates for the blind were between 55-60%. An article published by the Huffington Post in 2012 clocked the unemployment rate at 62.3%. The National Federation of the Blind reports that the unemployment rate was at 58% in 2015. These numbers suggest that the unemployment rate for those who are blind or visually impaired has remained largely the same over the years.
Barney Macari, the General Manager of Manufacturing for Envision Industries, spoke to Printing News about the company’s mission to help those with vision loss or impairment, along with its plans for future endeavors.
Macari has worked at Envision for a total of 18 years, divided between two separate stints. He began working at the Wichita, Kan.-based company in 1992 as a Plant Manager, left in 2006 as the Director of Manufacturing and, after eight years away from the company, returned in 2014 as the General Manager, running all of Envision’s manufacturing operations, including its print division.
When asked what drew him back to Envision after working elsewhere, Macari said that he simply enjoyed what Envision does, and the people it serves.
“We're here to give these folks a chance, to give those who are blind and visually impaired an opportunity to work and provide for their families,” he explained. “It's a great feeling to do what I can in order to make that happen for those folks.”
Since 1933, Envision has had one clear and distinct mission: to provide a more fulfilling, enriched life for those who are blind and visually impaired. Today, its stated mission is to improve the quality of life and provide inspiration and opportunity for people who are blind or visually impaired through employment, outreach, rehabilitation, education and research. The organization began as the Wichita Workshop and Training School for the Adult Blind in the midst of the Great Depression, where people learned how to create and sell products for profit.
After the Javits-Wagner-O’Day Act—now commonly known as the AbilityOne Act—passed in 1938, mandating that the government purchase products from blind-owned businesses (meeting certain product requirements), the Workshop and Training School began creating products for the military.
During World War II, the Training School provided the US Army with pillow cases and brooms. After the war ended, the facility continued to create new lines of products to fulfill the government’s needs, generating new contracts. In the 1990s, the Workshop and Training School changed its name to Envision Industries.
The Workshop and Training School then transitioned into being not only a resource for the visually impaired looking for work but a source of work as well.
In 2017, Envision Print was named the AbilityOne Contractor of the Year by the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Services Division for the sixth time in the past nine years. To this day Envision prides itself on employing those who are visually impaired and currently has more than 150 visually impaired employees on staff.
Today, Envision Print still holds multiple contracts with the government, providing it with numerous products, and has expanded its services.
Envision Print is mainly comprised of digital printers, although there’s also a small printing press, according to Macari. The business runs the full printing gamut, printing catalogues, newsletters, promotional material for the Defense Commissary Agency, instruction booklets for the IRS, and business cards—its hottest selling product. (More than two million business cards per month are sold nationally to both the government and private sectors, according to Envision.)
But the most unique thing about Envision Print is that it is run by the visually impaired. There are currently four visually impaired employees working in the print division, according to Macari. One employee serves as the production supervisor, two employees work in the finishing department, and one employee works in shipping.
While some may take pause upon hearing that the vision impaired are running a print shop—a space thought to be largely visual—it’s actually not as crazy as it sounds, thanks to technology.
Envision makes use of several technologies to assist its vision impaired employees, according to Macari.
“One of the programs we use is called JAWS, which is a text-to-speech program,” said Macari. “When you're moving your cursor around on your computer screen, it will verbalize whatever word your cursor is on, and you can set the speed. We use that in customer service to put orders in. Another technology is called MAGic, which is a screen magnifier that zooms in and expands the size of your screen. We also utilize different hardware, magnification cameras, and additional technologies, that we utilize to allow these folks do their jobs.”
But Envision isn’t just employing the visually impaired; it’s also conducting outreach on behalf of individuals who are blind or visually impaired nationwide, and providing rehabilitation, education, art, music, social and athletic programs, daycare and early education for blind, visually impaired and typically sighted children, and a host of other programs, many offered for free or regardless of an individual’s ability to pay.
Understanding the positive impact that such programs can have on the lives of people who are visually impaired, Envision set up the Envision Foundation to raise money to ensure it can provide them to individuals regardless of their ability to pay.
Educational programs and resources offered to the visually impaired can be crucial. The unemployment rate drops to about 35% when comprehensive computer and assistive technology training is provided, according to The Carroll Center for the Blind.
Now the Foundation is raising funds in support of Envision’s newest program.
“Along with LC Industries in Durham, N.C., Envision just launched a new division, the William L. Hudson BVI Workforce Innovation Center, which is a program working to secure better employment opportunities on behalf of blind and visually impaired individuals nationwide, and we've got several partners throughout the United States,” shared Macari. “We focus on training folks to work for Envision or for other companies in a variety of roles. We’re currently in the midst of a fundraising effort to cover the costs of building a home for the program on a floor of our headquarters. The remodel should be done within the next few months, giving the program an official base from which to carry out its mission.”
Through the BVI Workforce Innovation Center, Envision hopes to lower the unemployment rate steadily over time by eradicating the obstacles to finding and securing employment opportunities for individuals with vision issues. Despite the development of many different assistive technologies and training programs, Macari said, those with visual disabilities are still having a difficult time getting hired. Macari said that he believes that’s because too few prospective employers are aware of how capable the visually impaired are, and too few who are blind or visually impaired know about or have had access to resources that can help them get hired or promoted.
“The general population doesn't understand what the blind can do if they're given a chance to do it. It's not that big of a change to just adapt slightly to give folks an opportunity,” explained Macari.
Thankfully, Envision is providing ample examples of just how much the visually impaired can do when given a chance.
5 Noteworthy Facts About the AbilityOne Act/Program
- In 1938 the Wagner-O'Day Act was passed to provide employment opportunities to the blind by giving them the authority to manufacture mops and brooms to vend to the Federal Government.
- In 1971 the AbilityOne program expanded to also include people with severe disabilities, not just visual impairments.
- The AbilityOne Commission maintains a “Procurement List” of products and services accepted into the program from and you can find it on the AbilityOne Commission website (www.abilityone.gov).
- The products and services rendered through this program have resulted in the employment of over 45,000 people.
- In 1980 the AbilityOne Program provided 7,500 people jobs, and helped to generate $11.6 million in direct labor wages.
*All facts are reported from the AbilityOne Program’s website.
