Accelerated Engraving & Signage, LLC (AES)
Alternative Communication Services (ACS) LLC
Bender Consulting Services
Caption First
Charlotte International Partners Inc
CVS Health
Deque Systems
DirectEmployers Association
Disability Equality Index (DEI)
Global Disability Inclusion
Integrated Global Services (IGS)
Lowe's Companies, Inc.
Maui Aquaponics Cooperative
MAXOutreach®
MetLife
National Organization on Disability
Novartis Pharmaceuticals
Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) / JAN
Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) / National Technical Institute for the Deaf
SSB Bart Group
Stantec
Takeda Pharmaceuticals
Tangram Business
TAP Into Talent Through the Support of the NET and TAP’s Candidate Pool
The ADA National Network
The Women’s Business Development Council of Florida (WBDC of Florida)
US Business Leadership Network® (USBLN®)
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
The USBLN® is proud to present the following exhibitors alpha by company.
Accelerated Engraving & Signage, LLC (AES)
Cindy Ulven is the President and CEO of Accelerated Engraving & Signage, LLC is a highly professional company specializing in delivering custom and quality signage to meet the needs of our clients. We are a licensed ADA compliant company and provide Braille and all types of signage for commercial and public buildings. We also wholesale and retail personalized engraved gifts and corporate awards to stores and businesses throughout the U.S.
AES is located in western Minnesota and ship products national and international. We have manufactured Braille signs for Government projects and the National Institute of the Blind.
Alternative Communication Services (ACS) LLC
Alternative Communication Services (ACS) LLC provides the highest quality voice-to-text captioning and sign language interpreting services. We make the spoken word accessible to persons who are deaf and hard of hearing in English, Spanish, French, and German.
Our services are always delivered by highly trained human beings who have a passion for what they do. We never use speech recognition software. We deliver these services without boundaries to consumers who are deaf and hard of hearing throughout the world.
We have been in business since 2007. We support individuals in academia, business and industry, government, and not-for-profit associations.
We are different from other caption companies in that we recognize it is not just about our process. It is about others and how others feel when they interact with us. We listen to you when you tell us what you need and then we make it happen.
Here is what others say about ACS:
Get ten hours of services FREE when your business becomes a new ACS client!
Valerie Stafford-Mallis, Business Development Manager
Bender Consulting Services
Since 1995, Bender Consulting Services has worked with private sector and public sector employers to support their efforts to reach diversity and inclusion goals, specific to recruiting early-career associates with disabilities, in the areas of information technology, engineering, finance/accounting, human resources, and general business. In addition, Bender assists our customers with developing strategies to satisfy federal contractor compliance objectives.
Our services include the following:
• Capture – access the talent pool of individuals with disabilities, using one of three recruitment models, contract-to-hire, direct-hire-mentor and internship.
• Engage – train, retain, mentor and promote associates with disabilities. Bender provides workplace mentoring services, disability employment training and accessible technology services to support federal and international compliance standards.
• Navigate – optimize disability employment strategic planning and community engagement.
Bender Consulting is headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA and was founded by Joyce Bender. Joyce is a nationally recognized speaker on the issue of competitive employment for people with disabilities, hosts a weekly radio show, Disability Matters, on and is the past-chair of the board of the American Association of People with Disabilities and of the national Epilepsy Foundation. Joyce is the 1999 recipient of the President’s Award, which she received at the White House from President Clinton, the 2003 Bush Administration’s New Freedom Initiative Award, for her efforts in furthering the employment of people with disabilities, and the 2013 Justice for All Award from the American Association of People with Disabilities.
Caption First
Caption First has been a leader in providing communication access for people who are Deaf, hard of hearing, or whose native language is not English, since 1989. By providing the highest quality CART (Communication Access Realtime Translation) and captioning services, we have revolutionized the delivery and availability of realtime text through instantaneous translation of the spoken word.
From our full-time staff, to our pool of over 50 captioners, we strive to meet all of your speech-to-text communication needs. Caption First is known for its large-company capabilities delivered with small-company attentiveness.
Look to Caption First for:
• Remote or Onsite CART or Captioning
• Webinar Captioning
• Streaming to Mobile Devices
• Transcription, Time-Coding, & Captioning of Video and Audio Files
• Worldwide Availability of Services 24/7/365
Caption First is certified as a small, woman-owned, disability-owned business.
For more information, contact Sharaine Rawlinson Roberts, Marketing & Account Manager, at: 1-877-825-5234 or by email:
Visit our website:
Like us on Facebook:
Caption First: We succeed if you succeed!
Charlotte International Partners Inc
Charlotte International Partners Inc. was established in 2003 by Jack D Smith. Jack has been working in the Lighting Industry since 1969. He has worked as a theatrical lighting designer, residential lighting showroom manager, manufacturer's representative and for the past 16 years as an importer of European and Asian commercial lighting. Specializing in solid state LED lighting Jack is considered one of the premier authorities in LED lighting systems. Jack travels extensively throughout the world searching for innovative lighting designs and the latest advances in the rapidly changing solid state lighting technology.
Charlotte International Partners is the exclusive US partner for six of Europe's most respected commercial lighting manufacturers and is responsible for the sales, marketing, logistics and distribution of their products. With more than fourteen years' experience with LED and driver technology, Charlotte International Partners represents the world's largest commercial LED lighting manufacturer: I-LED, one of the Linea Light Group companies from Italy. Combined with their other lighting factories, Charlotte International Partners offers the largest selection of LED lighting in the USA with more than 26,000 unique products. Their products are offered to the professional lighting industry by a network of the nation's leading manufacturers reps covering all the major metropolitan areas.
A major part of their business is supplying many of America's retail chains with specialty lighting for their new and remodeled stores. As the preferred lighting vendor of some of the largest retail chains, CIP offers a vast selection of specialty lighting in all styles at factory direct prices. Their vast manufacturing capabilities and decades of design experience make them the clear choice for all your company's lighting needs. CIP Lighting has received numerous awards from some of the nation's largest retailers for their outstanding service. They would love to share their experience with your company.
CVS Health
CVS Health is dedicated to helping people on their path to better health as the largest integrated pharmacy company in the United States. Through the company's more than 7,600 CVS/pharmacy stores; its leading pharmacy benefit manager serving more than 64 million plan members; and its retail health clinic system, the largest in the nation with more than 800 MinuteClinic locations, it is a market leader in mail order, retail and specialty pharmacy, retail clinics, and Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plans. As a pharmacy innovation company with an unmatched breadth of capabilities, CVS Caremark continually strives to improve health and lower costs by developing new approaches such as its unique Pharmacy Advisor program that helps people with chronic diseases, such as diabetes, obtain and stay on their medications. Find more information about how CVS Health is reinventing pharmacy for better health at
Deque Systems
Deque Systems is a web accessibility software and services company. Founded in 1999, Deque Systems has paved the way for digital equality both from the user and technology perspectives. Deque has developed a uniquely robust suite of software tools that include WorldSpace, FireEyes, and Amaze. Our clientele includes Fortune 50 and 500 companies across a number of different industries and several large US Federal agencies seeking to implement accessibility at the enterprise level. Together we have made various essential web services and applications accessible to users with disabilities and fostered an environment of innovative and effective large-scale project management.
A thought leader in digital accessibility software and services, Deque was awarded the Computerworld 21st Century Achievement Award for Innovation for the Amaze technology, and the company has frequently been recognized in the Inc. 5000 List of America’s Fastest Growing Companies.
Disability Equality Index (DEI)
The Disability Equality IndexSM (DEISM) is a transparent national disability inclusion benchmark tool that will offer major employers an opportunity to receive an objective score on their disability inclusion policies and practices. It is a joint project, under development in 2013, of the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) and the U.S. Business Leadership Network® (USBLN®).
The USBLN® is a national non-profit that helps business drive performance by leveraging disability inclusion in the workplace, supply chain, and marketplace. The USBLN® serves as the collective voice of over 50 Business Leadership Network affiliates across the United States, representing over 5,000 businesses. Additionally, the USBLN® Disability Supplier Diversity Program® (DSDP) is the nation’s leading third party certification program for disability-owned businesses, including businesses owned by service-disabled veterans.
AAPD is the nation's largest disability rights organization. AAPD promotes equal opportunity, economic power, independent living, and political participation for people with disabilities. AAPD's members, including people with disabilities and our family, friends, and supporters, represent a powerful force for change. To learn more, visit the AAPD Web site:
Integrated Global Services (IGS)
Andrew Houghton, IGS’s founder has used a wheelchair since a 1986 motorcycle accident resulted in paraplegia. Andrew launched IGS in 2012 following six years as Chairperson of the U.S. AbilityOne Commission, which is responsible for overseeing the AbilityOne Program, a federal program employing nearly 50,000 people with disabilities through a nationwide network of over 600 nonprofit agencies. During his appointment, he was elected by his peers to an unprecedented three terms as Chairman. He was also the first private citizen and the first person with a disability to chair the Committee until his service ended on July 14, 2011.
Andrew’s technical expertise in strategic communications and developing messages inclusive of people with disabilities, combined with his strategic partnerships, makes IGS a leading diversity supplier source for clients seeking high quality products and services at competitive prices. Results of his national and international work have fostered public policy and systems change initiatives, increased brand awareness and improved program performance while linking socially responsible corporate and government programs to underserved communities and non-profit organizations.
Lowe's Companies, Inc.
Lowe’s has been helping our customers improve the places they call home for more than 60 years. Founded in 1946, Lowe’s has grown from a small hardware store to the second-largest home improvement retailer worldwide.
With the promise to create better homes for living by delivering the possibilities, support and value to maintain and improve their homes, Lowe’s remains focused on investing in solutions that create value for customers and our company. Our supplier diversity program is part of our overall commitment to enhance economic development in the diverse communities we serve. The supplier diversity program encourages small and diverse business owners to partner with Lowe’s buyers to offer a multitude of innovative home improvement solutions.
Lowe’s is a member of the National Minority Supplier Development Council, multiple regional supplier diversity councils, as well as many organizations and associations, including the US Business Leadership Network®, National Organization on Disability, National Veteran-Owned Business Association, Information Technology Senior Management Forum, Hispanic IT Executive Council and The Executive Leadership Council.
For more information about how to become a supplier for Lowe’s, visit today or email .
MAXOutreach®
MAXOutreach, a community-based recruitment and OFCCP compliance solution from MAXIMUS, Inc., enables businesses to access a diverse group of candidates and increase their opportunity to hire tax credit-eligible candidates, while meeting Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) requirements. For OFCCP compliance, MAXOutreach links employers to more than 17,000 state job service agencies, veterans organizations and disability assistance groups across the country that help identify job opportunities for individuals who meet OFCCP hiring criteria. Employers can tap into this vast national network of resources and quickly identify and target the assistive organizations in close proximity to their job openings.
Leveraging our extensive industry know-how, strong regulatory knowledge and deep community relationships, MAXIMUS works with businesses to facilitate a greater awareness of the many benefits associated with hiring veterans and individuals with disabilities. Through the Disability and Veteran Inclusion Program (DVIP), MAXIMUS takes disability and veteran recruitment efforts a step further by training and educating your company’s hiring managers and current employees to embrace the values and abilities of these individuals, therefore sustaining a productive and healthy inclusive environment.
MetLife
The MetLife Center for Special Needs PlanningSM is dedicated to helping families secure lifetime care and quality of life for their dependents with special needs. The Center's mission is to help families plan for the future of their dependents, including preserving government benefits and providing insurance and other financial solutions which can help provide lifetime quality care.
National Organization on Disability
The National Organization on Disability (NOD) is a private, non-profit organization that promotes the full participation of America’s 56 million people with disabilities in all aspects of life. Today, NOD focuses on increasing the employment prospects for the 79 percent of working-age people with disabilities who are unemployed by acting as a disability employment resource to the field and to employers.
Through Bridges to Business NOD helps companies diversify their workforce by including people with disabilities. We can help:
- Assess your company’s current disability employment initiatives and provide a roadmap to improve your program
- Integrate leading practices in disability employment into existing diversity programs
- Match your company with appropriate local and national sourcing partners
- Deliver customized training to help recruiters, hiring managers and staff understand the benefits of hiring people with disabilities, and how to create a climate and culture of inclusion
Novartis Pharmaceuticals
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation researches, develops, manufactures and markets innovative prescription drugs used to treat a number of diseases and conditions, including cardiovascular, dermatological, central nervous system, bone disease, cancer, organ transplantation, psychiatry, infectious disease, and respiratory. The company’s mission is to improve people’s lives by pioneering novel healthcare solutions.
Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) / JAN
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) develops and influences national policy and promotes effective workplace practices to ensure that today’s workforce is inclusive of all people, including people with disabilities.
ODEP sponsors the following resources:
- Job Accommodation Network (JAN) – Provides free, expert and confidential guidance on workplace accommodations and disability employment issues.
- Employer Assistance and Resource Network (EARN) – Helps employers hire and retain workers with disabilities.
- LEAD Center – Assists public and private workforce systems to adopt and implement policies that advance integrated, competitive employment opportunities for youth and adults with disabilities.
- NCWD/Youth – Promotes success for youth with disabilities entering the world of work.
- Workforce Recruitment Program (WRP) – Connects employers nationwide with highly motivated college students and recent graduates with disabilities who are eager to prove their abilities in the workplace through summer or permanent jobs. www.wrp.gov
- Campaign for Disability Employment (CDE) – Promotes the hiring, retention and advancement of people with disabilities through nationwide outreach featuring public service announcements that reflect the simple message—“At work, it’s what people CAN do that matters.”
Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT)/National Technical Institute for the Deaf
Discover the value of hiring interns or graduates from the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, a college of Rochester Institute of Technology --successful, career-oriented, technical professionals from all over the United States majoring in STEM disciplines. We train excellent candidates for your employment needs in the fields of business, computing, engineering, science, graphic arts and liberal arts. Visit our booth to meet representatives of our Center on Employment. Find out more about our college, our award-winning employer workshop, Working Together: Deaf and Hearing People, and other services for employers. Website: www.rit.edu/ntid/coops/jobs.