Many people with disabilities are unemployed, and many of them want to work. In the past year, Beacon Group provided 1,600 people with the support they needed to successfully join the labor force.
To keep Beacon workers engaged, this local nonprofit provided business solutions for thousands of nonprofit and for-profit Beacon customers.
“We are an integral participant in the local economy,” says Beacon Group President and CEO Greg Natvig, who was named to the top post in 2016. “Not only do we engage local employers and put people with disabilities to work, we also invest in organizations that make life better for all people in need.”
The Nonprofit Loan Fund is one of those organizations. “We like that NPLF makes loans to nonprofits in Southern Arizona,” says Natvig, “and that as an NPLF investor, we get a return on the funds we invest in NPLF. Our community partnerships allow us to well by doing good.”
Variety is what sets Beacon Group apart.
People with disabilities can work on-site at Beacon Group’s main facility, fulfilling the competitive contracts Beacon negotiates with nonprofits and businesses for assembly, electronics, mailing and packaging. For example, Beacon workers pack give-away bags that the nonprofit Environmental Education Exchange gives to the students who hear their presentations about sustainable living.
Easter Seals Blake Foundation is one of more than 3,000 Beacon Secure customers that contract with Beacon for confidential document and media destruction services, another on-site and community employment opportunity for Beacon workers.
Beacon also contracts with a wide variety of nonprofits, business and government employers to provide off-site jobs for Beacon workers in custodial services, landscape maintenance, vehicle washing, food service and warehousing.
“We’re proud to work with nonprofit and for-profit employers that contract with Beacon Group to engage people with disabilities,” says Greg. “These employers allow us to continue to expand choices for Beacon workers so that we can better meet their aspirations and goals. That’s very important to us.”
