WALSH / PIRRO ANNOUNCE SIGNIFICANT FEDERAL GRANT TO INCREASE DISABLED SELF-EMPLOYMENT LOCALLY
Central New York One of Only Four Communities Nationwide to Win Funding

(Syracuse, New York)- Congressman Jim Walsh today announced two grants totaling over $1.5 million from the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) are coming to Central New York to fund efforts to improve self-employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities.  Walsh and County Executive Nick Pirro announced the awards at a 2006 National Disability Employment Awareness Month ceremony in DeWitt.

The grants represent a significant portion of $5 million in total funding made available nationwide to fund both a national technical assistance and research cooperative agreement and multiple sub-national cooperative agreements for pilot projects to investigate, develop, and validate system models likely to increase self-employment opportunities for people with disabilities. Syracuse is one of four communities to receive funding, in addition to projects in Alaska, Florida, and Virginia.

Onondaga County will receive $1.04 million to be the lead agency for a project that will research, test, and evaluate innovative models of self-employment service delivery that can be adopted across the country and will provide sub-national technical assistance supportive of their research efforts. In addition, the project partners - including Syracuse University's Burton Blatt Institute and the Whitman School of Management - will research, test, and evaluate innovative system models that will increase self-employment opportunities for entrepreneurs who represent a range of disabilities, ages, and life circumstances.

“I am very pleased that Onondaga County was selected to receive this federal grant, and we appreciate the efforts of Congressman Walsh and his staff for their assistance," said Onondaga County Executive Nicholas Pirro. "We believe that all citizens in our community should have the opportunity to share in the American dream.  All doors in our society should be open to citizens who want to work and support themselves.  This partnership with Syracuse University will be a real opportunity to determine ways to improve employment opportunities for persons with disabilities.”

In addition, the Burton Blatt Institute (BBI) will be awarded a separate $500,000 cooperative agreement. The goal of the cooperative agreement is for the Research Consortium, of which Syracuse University is the lead entity, to develop a standard design methodology and conduct case study research on employer organizational practices in employing people with disabilities.

By performing case studies of companies that have been successful in employing disabled people, the Research Consortium will be able to generate a model that can be used by other employers.

"We are very pleased to partner with Onondaga County and the U.S. Department of Labor on these innovative projects," said Brian McLane, BBI's Executive Director. "These projects will help develop the capacity of persons with disabilities to have successful self-employment outcomes in Central New York. BBI seeks to advance the civic, economic, and social participation of persons with disabilities by offering disability expertise in research, education, outreach, and evaluation, and provides opportunities for people with disabilities to gain meaningful employment."

Walsh holds a senior position on the House Appropriations Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee with direct fiscal oversight over the Department of Labor and the Office of Disability Employment Policy.

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