owl
For the past 50 years, Opportunity for Work and Learning (OWL), a nonprofit 501(c)3 corporation serving employers in central Kentucky, has helped individuals who have barriers to employment by training them to become productive employees. Founded with the help of the Lexington Junior League, which provided funds from its annual horse show, OWL (www.owlinc.net) has assisted more than 15,000 people with physical or mental disabilities through its professional rehabilitation programs. OWL’s mission is to “create a world without barriers to employment.”
OWL (formerly Opportunity Workshop of Lexington) matches potential employees’ skills to employers’ needs. It focuses on getting people ready for work by instilling desirable workforce characteristics in them.
“Employers are looking for an employee that has good work skills, who will come to work on time and doesn’t miss,” said OWL’s president and CEO David Boggs. Employers also want people who can communicate well and get along with co-workers and those in positions of authority.
“These are basic work skills that are transferrable to every job,” Boggs said.
OWL’s basic job-training program lasts 15 weeks, but clients who need more time can receive extensions.
“It takes some people a little longer to find a job, so that really helps them,” Boggs said. “The whole mission is getting that person trained and transitioning them to independence out in the community.”
Many OWL clients have a physical or mental disability. Sally Lynam, who uses a wheelchair, has been working with OWL for more than 40 years.
“Cardinal Hill Hospital told me about OWL when I was a patient there,” she said. “When I got my discharge, the social worker sent me a letter and told me to come here. I have had an inspecting job. I have also worked in the office for three months. Anything they wanted me to do, I did it.”
Some clients are ex-offenders.
“Last year, 50 percent of the individuals that we got jobs for in the community had a felony conviction,” Boggs said. “It’s a major barrier to employment.”
OWL’s clients represent all age groups, from teens to people in their 60s. They come to OWL through the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation. Clients are matched with a counselor who helps them discern their skill sets and interests and find a suitable placement. Clients also receive help preparing resumés and doing online job searches. They learn about dressing for an interview, and they participate in mock interviews. The contact doesn’t end when the client’s 15 weeks are finished.
“We keep a connection with them,” Boggs said. “We typically follow up for a year.”
OWL has a good reputation for providing prepared workers.
“Employers know that when they get an employee from OWL, they’re trained and ready to go to work,” said Boggs.
Benefits to the employer include reduced time searching for workers; having a pool of pre-screened, qualified candidates; and assistance with obtaining possible tax credits and arranging ADA accommodations.
One of OWL’s programs is the Lexington Manufacturing Center (LMC), which has jobs in assembly, packaging, sorting, quality inspection and other customer-specific projects. The contracts are competitively bid. Customers include Lexmark, Square D, Webasto, Trane, Lexair, Jim Beam, Pilkington Glass, Neogen, KabaMas and Alltech.
“Our customers want three critical things: They want [a competitive] price, quality and on-time delivery,” Boggs said. “Our quality rating for our two biggest customers is less than one part per million. You can’t afford to have an automated line go down. You can’t afford to have an electrical part have a problem. That’s what we focus on. That’s what our customers want, and that’s what we provide.”
OWL is approved by Underwriters Laboratories and the Canadian Standards Association. “That brings a lot of integrity to our program,” Boggs said.
OWL is better described as a community-benefit organization, said Boggs.
“Every time somebody comes through our program and gets a job back out in the community, it helps the whole community,” he said. “It allows the client to become independent and self-sustaining. It helps local businesses, and it helps their families. You can’t imagine how rewarding it is to see the people who come through our program, and when they leave here, life is different for them. We are changing lives here.”