[Jobs] FW: [Nfb-announce] The Blind Renting Cars

[Noel Nightingale]

-----Original Message-----
From: nfb-announce-bounces at nfbnet.org
[mailto:nfb-announce-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Steve Cook
Sent: Tuesday, October 31, 2006 6:10 AM
Subject: [Nfb-announce] The Blind Renting Cars


Hello,

My name is Steve Cook and I work for the SC Commission for the Blind.  I
would like to let you know about a wonderful opportunity for the blind.
We have an Alamo and National car rental training program here in South
Carolina.  Alamo and National car rental has a call center located in
South Carolina and in Utah.  Read the below information and please feel
free to distribute it to the blind community in your area.  After you
have read over this information, get back in touch with me if you have
any questions.  We will have a new training class starting on Monday,
January 8, 2007.

A NEW EMPLOYMENT FRONTIER IN EMPLOYMENT OF INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE BLIND

A REVOLUTIONARY CONCEPT

Technological advances and a changing economy forced the South Carolina
Commission for the Blind to be creative and develop a different approach
to training and placement for our blind consumers. We had successfully
placed a number of blind people in Tele-communications with the Vanguard
Rental Corporation, the owners of Alamo and National Car Rentals. These
placements were prefaced with individual training and a lot of
experimenting with assistive technology. How could we develop a training
program in Tele-communications that trained groups of prospective
employees, and where could we go to get the technical assistance to
adapt tele-communications software to the assistive technology essential
for our blind consumers? We concluded it could happen with a partnership
with private industry.

THE PARTNERSHIP

Vanguard Rental Corporation was a willing partner because of their
positive experiences with their blind employees. They brought to the
partnership technical assistance, equipment, software and financial
participation. With a contractual relationship, the private sector
partner not only provides placement to everyone trained on their
programs: but also allows training for other employers with adapted
software. In addition to training for Vanguard Rental Corporation,
training and placement programs are established with Drivers' Choice
Insurance Company and Wells Fargo Mortgage Company.

PREPARING FOR TRAINING

The preparation for training begins with the VR Counselor pre-screening
consumers who are potential trainees. Referrals to the program are then
screened for communications skills and knowledge and use of assistive
technology. Some employers prefer to interview candidates for training
while other employers rely on the selections made by agency staff. 

TRAINING

In a fast paced environment, the twelve weeks training program is
presented in three phases-classroom training with the manuals of the
company for which the trainee will be working, hands-on training with
live computers and working with live calls in an intense work setting.
Training is eight hours each day, Monday through Friday: and appropriate
work habits such as limited lunch hour and limited break time is
enforced. Trainees are evaluated throughout the twelve weeks, and
remedial intervention is offered when trainees demonstrate skills
deficits that can be addressed.

ARRANGEMENTS

For South Carolina residents, we provide rooms and meals at the
Rehabilitation Center on campus. For out of state trainees, we provide
assistance in locating off-campus housing, and meals are provided
through the Rehabilitation Center. Transportation is provided to and
from training for out of state trainees as well as transportation to and
from the airport. Orientation and mobility are also available to all
trainees.

EMPLOYMENT! EMPLOYMENT! EMPLOYMENT!

Employers commit to placement before trainees are accepted into the
program. If a trainee does not show potential for successful completion,
the training is terminated. Entry level salaries range from $24,000 to
$26,000 annually, and agency staff assists with relocation, orientation
and mobility and technical assistance at time of entry into employment.

NEED MORE INFORMATION?

For additional information, contact Ed. Bible at (803) 898-8786.


SOUTH CAROLINA COMMISSION FOR THE BLIND

Dr. Nell C. Carney, Commissioner



NEW HORIZONS IN TRAINING AND COMPETITIVE EMPLOYMENT

Dr. Nell C. Carney, Commissioner
South Carolina Commission for the Blind

In 1999, the South Carolina General Assembly appropriated $200,000 to
the Commission for the Blind to expand an industrial training program
for blind and severely visually impaired consumers of working age who
had expressed an interest in working.  When the blueprints for the
expansion arrived a year later complete with conveyer belts and work
areas, we were confronted with making a decision about the kind of
industries we should recruit as our partners in the expansion project. 

A quick analysis of the labor market in South Carolina indicated that
the greatest numbers of jobs now and for the foreseeable future were in
the area of Tele-communications-customer service representatives, rental
and reservation specialists and sales.  With this information, the
blueprints were sent back to the drawing board with instructions to
design a Tele-communications center with state-of-the-art computers,
telephone equipment and assistive technology for use by blind and
severely visually impaired trainees. 

When the revised blueprints arrived, it was obvious that we would need
technical assistance and financial support from a private sector partner
to make a success of the training program.  We turned to Vanguard Rental
Corporation who had hired a number of our job ready clients.  Because
they were familiar with our programs and had found the consumers we had
trained to be excellent employees, Vanguard Rental Corporation eagerly
joined as our partners providing both financial support and technical
assistance.

After one and one half years of hard, and sometimes frustrating, work,
the Tele-communications Training Center was opened on our campus in
Columbia, SC on September 18, 2001.  The center has the capacity to
accommodate 30 trainees.  The overall training period is twelve weeks:
six weeks in the training room and six weeks taking live calls in an
intense work environment.

Vanguard Rental Corporation has already committed to hiring all of the
trainees who complete the training in the first year of the program.
Other private organizations where our consumers are employed have
contacted the Commission to negotiate training programs.  In addition,
we have had inquiries from other state rehabilitation programs about
placing consumers in the training program.

The success of the development of the training center is a sterling
example of the progress that can be made when private industry and state
government programs form a partnership in the interest of employment of
individuals with disabilities and the social and economic good of the
community.  The Training center is dedicated to the continuation of
efforts between private industry and public programs that will create
competitive employment opportunities for present and future generations
of blind and visually impaired South Carolinians and have a positive
economic and social impact on the community. On Tuesday, September 18th,
2001 at 10:30 AM, the South Carolina Commission for the Blind and
Vanguard Rental Corporation held opening and dedication ceremonies for a
Telecommunications training center for the blind and severely visually
impaired individuals at the Ellen Beach Mack Rehabilitation Center.  In
attendance, we had our Board of Commissioners, a member of the
legislature, Voc Rehab, CAP, a few members of the Projects with
Industries Advisory Board along with a number of individuals from
Vanguard Rental Corporation.

This revolutionary concept will unite private industry and state
government to provide training and job placement services for our
consumers.  The outstanding performance of the client's previously
placed with Vanguard Rental Corporation led to the initial contacts
between Vanguard and our Employment and Training division, which
culminated in the partnership that makes this center possible.  We were
able to secure approval to make changes to a planned expansion of the
Projects with Industries Program in the old pool area with a $200,000
appropriation from the General Assembly in 1999. These changes are a
reflection of the ever-changing job market as well as the challenges our
clients faced during training due to the need to learn how the assistive
technology and the company's software work together in a fast paced
classroom environment.  We have many call centers located across our
state that utilize technology which lends itself well to adaptations for
use by our consumers.  These types of positions provide excellent
opportunities for further advancement.  

Following pre-screening by the VR Counselors, Communications, and
Technical Services, consumers are recommended to the program.  The
clients accepted into the call center will receive training in customer
service skills along with the software applications provided by our
partner companies taught from the perspective of the adaptive technology
user.  Training will progress through three phases with a potential to
serve up to thirty consumers at a time.  Following successful completion
of the program, the consumer will be employed by a partnering company. 

After successful placement of our consumers, we can all share in the
development of a new employment frontier made possible by a
collaborative effort between private enterprise and state government.
Isn't it exciting to see the virtually limitless employment
opportunities we can create by working as a team! Reprinted with the
permission of the National Federation of the Blind of South Carolina
from its August, 2001 edition of the Palmetto Blind.



Training Center Aids Visually Impaired

(Editor's Note:  The following appeared in the Wednesday, September 19,
2001 edition of The State Newspaper.  Congratulations to the Commission
for the Blind for the establishment of this excellent Training Program.)


An old indoor swimming pool at the South Carolina Commission for the
Blind has been turned into a training facility that will help the
visually impaired become part of the labor force. The Telecommunications
Training Center, unveiled Tuesday morning, uses computers and a talking
computer program that allows blind people to work in call centers. The
new Center will play a vital role in the organization's mission to train
people to be competitive in the marketplace, said Dr. Nelle Carney,
Commissioner of the Commission.  It is also important to partner with
industry to provide practical skills for blind people, Dr. Carney said.
The Training Center is a public-private partnership.  Vanguard Rental
Corp., owner of Alamo and National Car Rental Companies helped provide
equipment. Clients of the Commission will learn on computers answering
real customer service and reservation calls from Vanguard, Park Seed in
Greenwood and other companies. With the changing economy, the decision
was made to focus less on manufacturing and more toward call center,
said Ed Bible, Director of Employment and Training for the Commission.
In the past, when blind people were trained for work, the expectations
were low and the training was not the standard used in the workplace,
Bible said. The call center was developed using Vanguard Rental Corp's
guidelines, Bible said. The people training in this facility will have
the computer skills they need before applying for the job, said Mike
Ralston, Director of Training for Vanguard Rental Corp. Vanguard had
already employed seven visually impaired people at two of its call
centers, but the company trained the employees themselves, Ralston said.
Employees from the Commission's Training Center could help fill the 100
or more employees needed during peak season at Park Seed in Greenwood,
said Dawn Gilbert, Human Resources Manager. Trainees at the
Telecommunications Center will use a program called JAWS - Job Access
with Speech - to hear what is on the computer screen, said David Bundy,
technical coordinator and trainer who demonstrated the technology.
Specially designed headsets will allow blind people to hear a customer
calling in one ear and the actions of the computer in the other ear. 


Thanks,
Steve Cook
Telecommunications Instructor/Trainer
SC Commission for the Blind
P O Box 2467
Columbia, SC 29202
Web Site: http://www.sccb.state.sc.us
Phone: (803) 898-8788
Fax: (803) 898-8852
E-Mail: stcook at sccb.sc.gov
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