Monday, August 2, 2010

Firm Opens Door to Workers With Disabilities

PEMBROKE, Mass. — John Burgess stocks the coolers, dutifully arranging the newly arrived soda and juice bottles in their respective shelves. Meanwhile, Dawn Crayton cheerfully opens the door to the ladies room, mop in hand. And then Chris Vittorini greets customers with a wide smile as he arrives to help clean the store.
This is a typical Thursday morning in the Mobil shop in Pembroke on the west side of Route 3. Except what’s happening here is anything but typical: Burgess, Crayton and Vittorini all have developmental disabilities.
Finding jobs can be difficult for people with impairments such as severe autism or Down syndrome. But Verc Enterprises has kept an open door for many years. At some point in 2009, more than 10 percent of the company’s work force had some form of developmental disability. By April of this year, that number was up to 15 percent.

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