For many of us, starting a new job may come with feelings of excitement “I can’t wait to get started learning new skills and meeting new people!” coupled with feelings of apprehension “What if I don’t learn quickly enough or what if my new coworkers don’t like me?” And if you are a person living with a disability, you might be feeling some of those same emotions on a much more extreme level. In 2021, the employment rate for individuals with a disability was 19.1% compared to 63.7% for non-disabled persons. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2021).

At Progress Industries, we work to reduce the feelings of apprehension and over time we see our employees are excited to work! Progress Industries’ highly trained and experienced staff understand the unique challenges of working in a manufacturing setting while living with a behavioral health diagnosis, a hearing impairment, or physical limitation and offer individualized support to reduce or remove the impact of those challenges. We accomplish this by providing accommodations not yet provided in many other employment settings. Many of our employees come to Progress Industries because they have struggled to obtain or maintain employment in the community. Progress Industries serves as a perfect transitional step toward improving outcomes in areas such as self-direction, communication, or building work-skills and tolerance.

We do this by adapting the workplace to the person, rather than trying to make the person fit our workplace. In a practical sense, this may include us offering written instructions to someone who struggles with following verbal directions or color-coding job steps with attached pictures for someone who processes written information differently. For others, the accommodations are as simple as modifying job tasks and work schedules to fit the unique needs and abilities of the employee. For nearly all employees, the accommodations offered at Progress Industries are easily transferable with the help of our professionals in collaboration with our employees’ new workplace. Our employment specialists and job coaches are familiar with many of the accommodations available through the Americans with Disabilities Act and serve as advocates on the employee’s behalf when necessary.

Ultimately, Progress Industries is intended to be a transitional employment setting for individuals with barriers to their community employment goals. Progress Industries couples the ‘hard-skills’ of assembly, quality control and inspection, machine operation, and packaging with the ‘soft-skills’ of teamwork, following instructions, problem solving, and working at a steady or sustained pace and does so by serving the industrial community of Mansfield and Richland County with quality manufacturing solutions.

Progress Industries is incredibly proud of its dedicated and highly capable workforce. We have seen individuals grow far beyond their wildest dreams and we aim to continue to show our employees how much they are capable of. With our help, our employees look forward to coming to work each day and see each workday as a new opportunity and not a challenge. At Progress Industries, work is for everyone.

Watch this success story to learn more about Progress Industries and the impact made in employee’s lives.

Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2021, February 24). PERSONS WITH A DISABILITY: LABOR FORCE CHARACTERISTICS — 2021. Retrieved from Bureau of Labor Statistics: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/disabl.pdf


Mitch Jacobsen has been with the agency for over seven years and serves as the Director of Vocational Services. Previously, he has worked with the agency as an employment specialist and production supervisor in the Progress Industries manufacturing workshop. Mitch is responsible for the management of workforce development programming and oversight of the industrial workshop and embroidery and print shop. Mitch serves as the agency’s representative to the Area 10 Workforce Development Board and Regional Manufacturing Coalition and has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from The Ohio State University.  Mitch is a Catalyst for Progress.

Embroidery & Print Shop

Progress Industries meets embroidery and print shop needs for companies in a variety of ways. Below you can see 4 main categories of services: uniforms, employee gifts, signs and promotional items. Progress Industries creates professional products that meets the needs of the client and also impacts the community. When a product is purchased from Progress Industries, work is created for Catalyst clients who find enrichment, pride and fulfillment through their work in the Embroidery and Print Shop.


Uniforms

From print screening to embroidery, uniforms can be custom made to fit your needs. Click here to look through our catalog.

The Print & Embroidery Shop at Catalyst is Nanogate’s go to place to order apparel for our employees. It’s nice to have a place where we can order items and get them embroidered with our Logo and at a reasonable price. The employees in the Embroidery Department are friendly, efficient, and very helpful. I would highly recommend The Center for your one-stop shop for apparel and embroidery.

– Karen Hagerman, Executive Assistant

Nanogate North America, LLC


Employee Gifts

Are you an employer looking for a creative idea for employee appreciation or holiday gifts? Give us a call at 419-774-2267 and we can talk through the options.

“Over the years, Progress Industries have provided high quality, custom fleece jackets that we give to our employees for years of service awards.  We have also used their services for custom t-shirts.  They have been very easy to work with and have a variety of products to choose from. Having a local contact to work with has been wonderful!

– Angie Myers

Administrative Assistant to the Vice President

Jay Industries Incorporated


Signage

Printed signage is available for special events, personal and promotional needs and commercial and public displays.

Progress Industries is by far the most reliable and consistent company for your printing needs. Ms. Laura and her staff do an amazing job communicating before, during, and after each print job is complete. They are always on time, and the quality is second to none. Five Stars. 10/10. National Championship Service!

– Roy W. Hall, Executive Director

Driven Foundation & Former Ohio State & NFL Receiver

Promotional Items

Promotional items are an incredible way to create or continue brand awareness. There are unlimited items to create with your own signature look.

“I have been purchasing merchandise and point-of-sale for the Ohio Lottery for 20 years.  In that time, Progress Industries has proved that they are committed to providing efficient, creative printing and embroidery services for their customers.  The quality branding on our products and point-of-sale is impressive, customer support is on point, timelines are met, pricing is reasonable, and the quality control aspect for each order eases my mind.  I recommend Progress Industries as a vendor, and enjoy my working relationship with them.

– Irene Pagonis, Purchasing Agent

Ohio Lottery


Give us a call at 419-774-2267 or email Laura Zimmer, Embroidery & Print Supervisor, at zimmerl@catalystlifeservices.org.

View our catalog for apparel here.

You can view our pen catalog here.

WIOA: Fighting the barriers that impede success

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) is a federal law providing funding to 14-24 year old youth to assist job-seekers with finding employment, help businesses find qualified workers, and to strengthen local workforce development.

The Comprehensive Case Management Employment Program (CCMEP) is an innovative program that can help low-income young adults build career paths, find employment and break the cycle of poverty.

CCMEP integrates funding from the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) program and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program to offer more coordinated, individualized services. CCMEP offers a wide range of services specifically tailored to each individual.

Ohio was one of the first states in the nation to attempt this degree of cross program integration.

Here at Catalyst, our CCMEP Team works to assist transitional age youth with barriers to their employment and educational goals. The employment specialists working on this team serve in school and out of school youth with things such as paid work experience, job coaching, job placement, assistance with secondary and post-secondary education, and more.


A photo of Amber Browning, a WIOA success story.

In 2018, 22 year old Amber Browning was referred to the WIOA program at Catalyst Life Services as a single mother of two who had dropped out of high school and was receiving public assistance. Amber’s potential was apparent early on, as she received her GED within one month of entering the program and soon afterward began taking classes at North Central State College. Shortly after the semester began, childcare issues and medical appointments took over Amber’s schedule and she started to fall behind in her classes, eventually dropping out altogether.

That’s when Amber’s employment specialist, Casey Gowitzka, took it upon herself to help Amber achieve her goals. “She would probably say I was very hard on her” says Gowitzka, “but it was because I saw so much potential inside of her that she didn’t see inside herself.”

Amber enrolled back into North Central State College, graduating in 2019 and finding full time employment at OhioHealth as a Radiology Technician earning over $16 an hour. Amber is now free from public assistance and is in the process of buying her first home. We couldn’t be more proud of Amber’s successes and expect many great things from her moving forward.

vocation progress industriesIt’s that time of year again!

The weather turns colder, the leaves begin changing colors, and “Help Wanted” signs are posted in every retailer’s window.

In many cases, seasonal positions are a great option for individuals seeking part-time employment. What might you want to review before coming to the decision to apply for such a position? How might you improve your chances of successfully obtaining such a position? Remember these simple tips in order to make your job search more successful.

To determine whether an open position might be a good fit for you, start by thinking about what skills someone might utilize in such a position. Consider how the business or employer might frame those into a position posting online. Then begin asking yourself questions relating back to the requirements of the position, for example:

  1. Am I someone who enjoys working with other people and interacting with customers?
  2. Do I have a flexible schedule and am willing to work evenings and weekends?
  3. Am I someone who thrives in a fast-paced environment?

By understanding yourself and your intent in your job search, you can ensure higher levels of success as you progress through the job seeking process. It is important that you first assess the position or industry as a fit for you as a prospective job seeker. There are number of online assessments that can guide you through this process as well. Assess your preferences and attitudes to find a position that fits your needs.

 

Equally important to understanding yourself, it is critical to ensure that you envision the hiring manager’s perspective when applying for these positions. By doing this, you can oftentimes predict possible interview questions in advance. If a “Help Wanted” advertisement requests someone who works well independently, the interviewer might say something like:

                “Tell me about a time when you were able to succeed with little guidance or direction.”

This is what is known as a “situational” or “behavioral” interview question. The interviewer is expecting an example demonstrating your ability to process through a difficult task. Here is one tip to prepare yourself to answer such a question; just remember the STAR method:

  1. Situation – What took place that led to the problem at hand?
  2. TaskWhat were you assigned to do or what was your role in the problem?
  3. ActionWhat did you do to fix the problem?
  4. ResultHow was this situation resolved?

In preparing for your next interview, try to come up with a few specific examples for situational interview questions that exemplify a few of your “transferable skills” which are skills you take with you from one position to another (sometimes in an entirely different industry). Some of these skills might include:

  • Communication
  • Teamwork
  • Time Management
  • Computer Literacy
  • Critical Thinking
  • And many others

Finally, as you review these tips before you start the job seeking process, remember that we have only touched on the surface of some of these topics. You can take your job search to the next level by expanding on the advice given above.

For more information about job seeking skills or how best to prepare for what comes after the interview, stay posted to this blog and follow us on social media, where there will be more helpful hints to come.

Thanks for reading and see you next time!

Blog Written by: Mitch Jacobsen is the Director of Vocational Services at Catalyst Life Services, and he has worked with individuals with barriers to their employment and educational goals. He oversees a number of vocational programs and services designed to improve employment outcomes. Mitch is passionate about the vocational department at Catalyst Life Services, which helped put over 500 people to work in calendar year 2017.


Congratulations to Catalyst Life Services’ Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) team for their work toward earning high marks on their 4th Quarter Report on program performance measures.

This dynamic program serves nearly 200 Richland County youth, ages 14-24, with barriers to their employment and educational goals, with an emphasis on out-of-school youth with multiple barriers, some of those barriers might include youth who are:

  • Basic skills deficient
  • An English language learner
  • Offenders or subject to the juvenile or adult justice system
  • Homeless or a runaway
  • In foster care or who have aged out of foster care
  • Are pregnant or parenting
  • Have a diagnosed disability
  • Youth who require additional assistance to complete an education program or obtain and maintain long-term employment

In serving these youth participants, staff members on this program emphasize a number of program elements individualized to the participant and designed to remove or minimize these barriers to the youth participant’s goals and increase employment and educational placement outcomes.

In the WIOA program, measuring success comes in the form of five specific outcome measures, of which the Catalyst team “exceeded” or “significantly exceeded” four of these items.

One such measure of which the Catalyst team was particularly proud was that 79.4% (77/97) of eligible participants achieved a measurable skills gain, which is accomplished when an individual achieves one of the following:

  • Improvement of at least one educational functioning level
  • Passing 5 credit hours or more on the most recent progress report
  • Graduating from a secondary or post-secondary education program
  • Passage of an exam to attain a credential such as CDL/STNA

For this particular measure, the statewide rate was 28.8%.

These performance measures are reported at the state level quarterly and dispensed to the areas locally where the program receives governance and oversight from a local Workforce Development Board comprised of representatives from government entities, non-profit organizations, and private for profit businesses.

If you know anyone interested in this program contact Stephanie Jakubick at 419-774-2250 or at jakubick@catalystlifeservices.org