reads from her nomination letter during presentation of the
Outstanding Disability Employer Award
Malco Tools recently received award recognition as an Outstanding Disability Employer by the Minnesota Organization for Habilitation and Rehabilitation, in conjunction with National Disability Employment Awareness Month. “We cannot overemphasize the importance of employers in our efforts to provide meaningful services to people with disabilities in Minnesota,” said Mike Burke, MOHR’s president. The award presentation was made at Malco’s Annandale, Minnesota headquarters on Wednesday, October 11, 2017 by Amber Oster, vice president of workforce solutions for Functional Industries, a disability service provider in nearby Buffalo, Minnesota, with whom Malco has had a relationship for more than 30-years. It was Oster who nominated Malco for the award. Her framed letter of nomination, which she also presented, notes that in addition to Malco’s long time use of their center-based program in Buffalo, for packaging work, Malco has also had a Functional Industries work crew in place at the plant for over 4-years. Enthusiastic Testimonials to this crews’ successful adjustment to the on-site Malco work environment come easy from management and co-workers, FunctionaI Industries supervisors, and crew members familes: “an asset to the company—positive attitude—strong work ethic—a joy to work with” and, very importantly, “a positive experience for the crew”. Also on hand for the award presentation was local district State Senator and Functional Industries board member Bruce Anderson. Anderson’s daughter, Emily, was born with cerebral palsy and has been part of the Functional Industries organization for 25-years. Senator Anderson sums up well the importance of meaningful work for people with disabilities: “I know people who aspire, like my daughter, to work in an actual workplace in and around the community. We’ve had great success with their employment and have seen it to be a stepping stone to where they get the confidence to say, ‘I can do this.’ What a blessing that is.” State Senator Anderson also presented a Minnesota Senate Proclamation congratulating Malco on their 2017 Outstanding Disability Employer Award. Malco was also the recipient of a Proclamation by the Minnesota House of Representatives on the occasion of this award.
“I know people who aspire, like my daughter, to work in an actual workplace in and around the community. We’ve had great success with their employment and have seen it to be a stepping stone to where they get the confidence to say, ‘I can do this.’ What a blessing that is.”
-Minnesota State Senator, Bruce Anderson