The attached article is about Bender Consulting Services.  It was featured
in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review on Sunday, February 28, 1998, on the front
page of the business section.  It can be found at
http://triblive.com/business/adac0228.html (this may change once the article
is archived).

Business News - February 28, 1999
Firm finds success hiring disabled
Work at client locations sometimes leads to full-time jobs
By Catherine Erickson TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Joyce Bender miraculously recovered from a devastating epileptic seizure,
but she never forgot the people she met in rehabilitation. She has been
finding jobs for people with disabilities ever since. "They want to work,"
she says. "It is so refreshing to have someone work for you that views their
job as independence."

Bender didn't know she had epilepsy until she suffered a seizure and brain
hemorrhage during a movie intermission in 1984. Despite concerns she might
die or suffer severe impairments, she was soon able to resume work as a
recruiter in the computer field. Medication now controls her epilepsy.

As president of her own search firm in Pittsburgh, she volunteered to help
find jobs for those with disabilities. She recalls approaching her own
customers and saying, "Hey, would you hire someone? What difference does it
make if the person is in a wheelchair or vision impaired? They can do this
job."

Finally, in September 1995, she started Bender Consulting Services Inc., a
for-profit company that hires technical experts with disabilities.

About 80 percent of her 25 employees have disabilities. Several are blind
and in wheelchairs. One is a double amputee and another is deaf. All must
have the education and skills to meet the needs of the companies the firm
consults with.

Demand has been so strong, Bender plans to open an office in Harrisburg this
year and add at least 30 more workers. "It's amazing how many people are now
contacting us," she says. "You have a phenomenal scarcity of resources in
information technology today."

Bender's employees typically spend six months to a year working at client
locations as part of their contracts. In some cases, Bender arranges for her
employees to eventually join companies as permanent employees.

Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield is one of Bender's clients. The company
employs about 80 people with disabilities in a variety of jobs, including
customer service and computer systems, according to John Brouse, Highmark
president and chief executive officer.

"These people are dependable. They are conscientious. Their work ethic is
phenomenal," Brouse says.

Norris Vactor, 53, began working for Highmark in 1994 and is now a computer
systems analyst. Vactor has had to use a wheelchair since a college football
accident left him a quadriplegic in 1965 at the age of 19. He graduated in
1992 from the Institute of Advanced Technology with a certificate in
computer programming but couldn't find a job after a string of interviews.

"If you're in a wheelchair, a lot of people have a problem dealing with
that," he says. "You can usually feel it if somebody is uncomfortable."

Finally, about two years later, he met a Highmark recruiter and got an
interview with the company. "All you need to find is one person who likes
your attitude and the things that you do," he says.

Vactor says the only special equipment he needs are typing sticks - cuffs
with a pencil attached that he wears on each hand to help him peck computer
keys. He is enjoying living independently and coming to appreciate the
wonders and woes of working. "I'm getting used to simple stuff, like paying
taxes," he says. "Now I know what people are complaining about. Before I
didn't understand it."

Janet Gerster can appreciate those things, too. She graduated in 1986 from
Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a psychology degree, but after a
brief stint as a dormitory supervisor, could not find work. A rare genetic
disease had left her legally blind, and it was clear many interviewers were
put off by her disability. "I actually interviewed with some people who
said, `A blind girl, oooh, I don't think so. Thank you for coming.'"

Forced to move back in with her parents and unable to afford her monthly
college loan payments, she took a job bagging groceries at a Giant Eagle
store in the North Hills. Despite her own lack of confidence, her
supervisors convinced her she could handle more so they gave her a job as a
clerk in the personnel office.

"It was really trial and error," she says. "They'd say, `See if you can do
this. Well, that worked. Let's try this.'"

The company bought a special computer that enlarges type on applications and
other material up to 100 times so she can read it. They also gave her a
calculator that talks.

Today, Gerster, who is 34, is the personnel manager at Giant Eagle's West
View store and an extremely loyal employee. "In the very beginning, I was
the one unsure," she says. "I can't imagine being anywhere but Giant Eagle."

Giant Eagle Human Resources Director Dale Giovengo says the company has had
formal programs to hire people with disabilities since 1987. "They're good
employees. We have a need for good employees," Giovengo says.

The company will accommodate workers when needed. Special platforms are
built so that cashiers in wheelchairs are at the right level. Employees were
taught sign language so they could communicate with deaf co-workers. Other
employees have Down Syndrome.

"We put them in a job where they are able to meet our requirements,"
Giovengo says.

Photo 1: Bender Consulting Services Inc. employs many disabled people: (From
left) Ricco Brusco, Mike Gravitt, Joyce Bender and Ren Wang. (Cala
Moldovan/Tribune-Review photo)

Photo 2: Norris Vector uses a pencil to type as he troubleshoots a computer
program as part of his job as a systems analyst for Highmark Blue Cross Blue
Shield (Joe Appel Tribune-Review photo)

Photo 3: Janet Gerster, personnel manager at the Giant Eagle store in West
View, North Hills. (Warren Leeder/Tribune-Review photo)


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