Why Inclusion is Smart Business

Presenter: Lloyd Lewis, President & CEO of arc Thrift Stores 

(Business leader, CEO, national speaker, author, and father of a son with an intellectual and developmental disability)

Description: 

Discover how employing individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) can drive higher revenue, faster sales growth, and increased profitability. Learn practical strategies to create a culture of inclusion through effective accommodations, supervision, and management. 

Perceptions:

• Hiring and managing people with IDD is expensive, complicated, and time consuming.

• Accommodations and resources are difficult to navigate.

• Disabled employees aren’t as efficient, capable, or valuable as typical employees.

Reality:

• Revenue of companies hiring disabled employees is 28% higher, economic profit margins are 30% higher, and net income is 111% higher than those companies that do not hire people with IDD.

• A study by Accenture of 140 U.S. companies confirms that disability inclusion increases business performance, specifically innovation, shareholder value, productivity, and market share (Accenture et al., 2018).

• According to employers participating in a recent study by Job Accommodation Network, a service from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy, a high percentage (59%) of accommodations cost absolutely nothing to make, and if there is a charge, it is typically less than $500 per employee with a disability.

Lloyd Lewis has grown a $32 million dollar retail chain into a $120+ million social enterprise that is one of the largest employers of people with disabilities.

Cost: Free for CNDCC Members / $35 for Non-Members

Join us via Zoom for our educational lecture series.