Universal Design/Virginia Small Business Success Story

For Immediate Release
Contact: Katherine McCary
June 6, 2008
Phone: 804-343-9571
Katherine.McCary@suntrust.com

Richmond, VA (June 6, 2008)

Last October, Peninsula Worklink hosted an Employer Breakfast Recognition event in collaboration with the Virginia Department of Rehabilitative Services and its workforce center partner agencies. As part of the event a presentation was made on the topic, "Universal Design and Rehab Engineering." Universal Design (UD) is a strategy for making products, environments, operational systems and services welcoming and usable to the most diverse range of people possible. Universal Design then can be a principle which guides a business to serve and capitalize on the broadest possible market of customers and potential employees.

At that breakfast meeting, businesses were asked to respond to a brief survey indicating their interest in attending future informational workshops that either built on the UD theme, or discussed other ways to meet labor force needs in the current and future workplace.

Based on the survey findings, Peninsula Worklink is offering a series of "Lunch and Learn" informational sessions for employers at the Peninsula Workforce Development Center. Each of these sessions will be planned to accommodate participants´ schedules and address topics suggested at the October conference.

The first "Lunch & Learn" workshop will feature Debra Ruh, founder and President of TecAccess. TecAccess was awarded the "2007 Small Business Success Story of the Year" by Virginia Business. The workshop topic will be "Universal Design / Virginia Small Business Success Story" and will highlight strategies and practices Debra Ruh and her company have used to improve return on investment (ROI), employee recruitment and retention, and incorporate principles of Universal Design which benefit all customers and employees.

The training activities are scheduled on Thursday, June 12, 2008, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at a cost of $25 per person, which includes lunch. Thomas Nelson Community College´s Office of Workforce Development will co-sponsor these training sessions and participants will receive continuing education credits.

Seating is limited to 35 participants, so don´t wait and possibly miss this great opportunity to learn about the significant opportunities for your company to employ qualified and skilled workers in the near future. RSVP: Cathy Ellis at cellis@nngov.com or 757-240-4000 by June 9, 2008.

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