Ever wonder if just one person makes a difference?  If an employer hires a
blind person for the first time, a successful experience may pave the way
for others, like in the article below.  What you do, say, and how well
your accommodations work may indeed have an impact on others.

kelly 
Charlotte news Nd Courier 


 From the web page:

http://www.charleston.net/pub/archive/biz/bzstbz1002.htm

  Call center cited for willingness to hire the blind


Monday, October 2, 2000
By JOHN P. McDERMOTT
Of The Post and Courier staff



Strictly Business

      Rolando San Pedro is a model employee by any standard: reliable, 
hardworking and eager to learn.
      He also happens to be completely blind.
      San Pedro is one of seven visually impaired employees at ANC Rental 
Corp.'s Goose Creek calling center, which the S.C. Commission of the Blind 
recently named its statewide employer of the year.
      "It's my first full-time job and I love it," said 28-year-old San 
Pedro, who has lived in the Lowcountry since 1977 and holds a business 
management degree from Trident Technical College. "I have a lot of friends 
here, believe me."
      "Their being here is a win-win," added Bill Macklin, who oversees the 
local ANC center, which occupies a former Kmart on St. James Avenue.
      The seven impaired workers - two of whom are completely blind - help 
field the 50,000 international calls that pour into Goose Creek every day 
from customers of ANC subsidiaries National Car Rental, Alamo Rent a Car 
and CarTemps USA.
      Yet they also illustrate how employers can work the disabled into 
their businesses and fill their everyday hiring needs.
      ANC's labor demand fluctuates throughout the year.
      As such, call center officials have made it a point to be flexible 
and creative to attract retirees and college students during peak 
car-rental seasons, said Bob DeTrano, director of central operations for ANC.
      Yet in recent years hiring has become an even more demanding chore 
for most tri-county businesses.
      Since an ANC predecessor opened the calling center in 1996, for 
example, the local unemployment figure has dropped to less than 4 percent 
from 6 percent.
      "The job market here has gotten a little tighter," DeTrano said. "So 
we started looking at other available resources."
      Following the lead of a successful experiment in Minnesota, ANC 
officials wrote Gov. Jim Hodges' office to ask about putting visually 
impaired job-seekers to work at the local call center.
      The letter found its way to the S.C. Commission for the Blind. The 
agency visited the local facility to help the Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based 
company determine what training and special needs would be needed.
      "We found that the training was no longer than it is for our sighted 
employees," DeTrano said.
      Working closely with the commission's staff, ANC also published 
training materials in Braille and held sensitivity classes for existing 
employees, most of whom had never worked alongside a blind person.
      The first visually impaired hires joined the company last November.
      "We're finding that our associates in this program are punctual and 
dependable," DeTrano said. "They're above average."
      Technology has played a key role in helping them adapt to the 
workplace, he noted.
      For instance, ANC retooled some of its computers to magnify the 
on-screen characters for employees with less severe visual impairments.
      To accommodate its fully blind workers, the company installed special 
software that responds to specific keyboard strokes.
      The so-called "Jaws" audio program lets San Pedro quote car-rental 
rates, provide vehicle information and book reservations without any 
assistance.
      "Basically, it makes the computer speak to me," said San Pedro, 
adding that callers on the other end of the line have no idea they're 
renting a vehicle from a blind person.
      Unless, of course, he tells them.
      "Sometimes they'll say, 'You're typing pretty fast there,' " San 
Pedro said. "And I say, 'For a blind man I do a pretty good job.' They're 
usually shocked and say, 'Really?' "

ANC Rental Corp.

      •  What: Named employer of the year by S.C. Commission for the Blind
      •  Business: International call center for three car rental 
companies: National Car Rental, Alamo Rent a Car and CarTemps. Local call 
center opened in 1996. ANC is based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
      •  Location: 208 St. James Ave., Goose Creek.
      •  Employees: 650 currently; 800 during peak periods.


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