Skookum Contract Services - https://www.skookum.org/

• Sierra Hinrichsen, Human Resources Generalist -  hinrichsen@skookum.org
• How many are familiar with what we do? – (a few said yes –ed.)
• Have you heard of the Ability One Program – one person knows (everyone can know if they just follow this link… - https://www.abilityone.gov/ -ed)
• Many aren’t familiar with this program – it is what makes our organization unique in the community
• Mission –
  • Create opportunities for people with disabilities.  Not looking to create just jobs – many need more than a job to  be successful. 
  • Video (the video is a bunch of folks making brief statements about Skookum – I jotted down a few of them below.  See the full video at https://www.bofaml.com/en-us/content/sustainability-in-action/skookum-business-case-study.html#5759233943001 for the full experience. –ed. )
    • People notice you are different – from birth or accident.
    • I lost my left leg to a drunk driver
    • PTSD is a living nightmare (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder – PTSD - often sounds to me like a “new” diagnosis, and it sort of is.  It first appeared in the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 1980.  But the diagnosis is essentially the “Shell Shock” from WWI and “Combat Stress Reaction” from WWII – just renamed and better understood because of the struggles of many veterans returning from the Vietnam war. It’s gone by other names – “soldier’s heart” in the civil war, and with symptoms described in ancient text, probably other phrases lost to time. Obviously, it doesn’t take combat action to suffer from PTSD, but it a clear byproduct of war.  And I’m sure we’ll see the term PTSD morph or be replaced as time goes by – the “D” is often dropped because of the stigma of being diagnosed with a disorder can be a barrier to people asking for help.  –ed.).   
    • 4 years ago I was shot 4 times
    • People saw me as a person in a wheelchair (a big reason why people-first language – “a person using a wheelchair” vs. a “wheelchair user” helps us to always identify the humanity of the person first, and the characteristic of them – dark hair, abilities, etc, second. –ed)
    • Skookum is a contact service company – that prefers people with disabilities (self-employment for people with disabilities is twice what it is for the general population.  Often it isn’t that these folks can’t work, but employers just won’t hire them.  I can go on with stats like this all day – that is what 5 years as a volunteer on the Tacoma Area Commission on Disabilities will do for you.  If you’re interested in disabilities issues, the Commission is a great place to learn and make an impact.  It is where I first met Al, too – so it has that going for it - https://www.cityoftacoma.org/government/committees_boards_commissions/tacoma_area_commission_on_disabilities . –ed)
    • People with disabilities often aren’t allowed to give back to society
    • The magic here is that you can help people realize their dreams
    • What makes us unique isn’t what we do, it is how we do it.
    • We manage 15 million square feet of facilities (that is like 68 Tacoma domes, which is probably more Tacoma Domes than are probably needed. Fun story, when they were building the Tacoma Dome, there was a day you could come and sign your name on one of the big beams that formed the roof. Emotional 10-year old me was pissed off about something, so decided to punish my mom by refusing to go.  So she just took my brother, who has his name on one of the beams. I don’t have my name on one of the beams. Not my best moment. I think about that every time I’m in the Dome. I can’t remember the date of my wedding anniversary, but that memory will be with me forever. –ed)
    • We do Laundry service, grounds keeping, maintenance
    • We compete for project – nothing is handed to us.
    • Got my self-esteem back, and my personality back
    • Elated I have this amazing team that trusts me
    • All of the people we employ do the hard work and make it happen for themselves – we are just opening the door them.
    • The benefits ripple through their community and family life and their society.
    • I can do anything I want to – I said to the nurses that if they could get me better and get me through this I would make good with my life, and I did.
• I am a HR generalist – based out of JBLM.  Someone stopped in – they were a longtime employee of 8 years that was experiencing homelessness.  He struggled with a learning disability and mental health his whole life – got kicked out of family homes – has a wife and daughter – had no resource and no idea what to do next.  Luckily I work for an organization that lets me work on these issues for our employees.  Met Gerrit and he invited me here (you’ve got to admit that was a good idea –ed).
• We have lots of business lines –
  • 22% of adults in US have a disability of some kind – gets in the way of employment for a variety of reasons.  Doing the work can be difficult when employers don’t know how to support those needs.
  • US government came up with Ability One program – only available to companies that meet a set of requirements can bid on them.  Part of our business is community support services.  We have job coaches to help Department of Vocation Rehabilitation (DVR) customers to find work within Skookum and with other employers.  We have to show we can provide accommodations – so we have vocational specialists on staff.. They literally go out and check on employees – often that is all the extra support employees need
• history –
  • founded by Jim Westall – special education teacher in Port Townsend
  • Video – of our roots – from small company to over 1,000 employees with > 75% having a documentable disability (I couldn’t find this video link, but I took some notes –ed.)
    • Jim Westall Narrates:
    • I was the first employee of Skookum
    • Skookum – Northwest Indians from Alaska down to Oregon couldn’t communicate with each other because of different languages.  – made a trade language (Chinuk Wawa or often called Chinook – info at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinook_Jargon .-ed)– in that language –Skookum meant “high quality, well built, lots of integrity”. It was an ideal name that reflected the value I had for the company. 
    • I was working at the Port Townsend school district – at a time of deinstitutionalization – had huge influx of people with disabilities – needed a program for them.  Taught them life skills and work skills.  We started making jump ropes – a way to learn hand-eye coordination and sequencing skills – setting up a manufacturing company that actually did business and made money – the students could get paid for what they did, and teach them about money and buying things and all the things.  Take them from institutions to deinstitutionalization – teach them what work was like. 
• Now have over 1,200 employees  - a $150M company.
• We are a 501(c)(3) – operate nationwide – in 11 states and the District of Columbia – all revenue goes to better supports or more opportunities. 
• Most customers are federal government, mostly on military installations.
• Main goal is to provide meaningful jobs and customer support
• Government doesn’t care about our mission – they are all about us getting the work done right (Oh, I bet they do care – they’re just the stoic type that don’t show so many emotions. –ed). 
• An employee with a disability doesn’t do less work or lower quality work, they just may need an accommodation.  We don’t take duties away, but provide accommodations as needed.  We have to prove to our customers we can do this each and every time. (I’ve read this bullet point a few times – I rather like it. –ed)
• We have 706 employees with disabilities – 6 Purple hearts – 422 US veterans – basically the entire executive team are veterans. 
• Types of disabilities – employees provide documentation of disabilities and impact
  • Muscular/skeletal disabilities which impacts mobility
  • Sensory –sight and hearing
  • Cognitive
  • Invisible – mental health diagnosis – do training for employees on mental health first aid so they can support their coworkers
• Difference between disability and ability – everyone deserves to showcase their talents and has value in the workplace.  This seems similar to people experiencing homelessness – it is easy to lose dignity and self-respect when you lose your job – we can see from the first day of orientation where new employees go from not taking care of themselves to being attentive to hygiene and taking pride in dress.  The client I mentioned earlier is paying off debt and is working on removing evictions.
• Washington is where we are based – so we have a lots of work in this area.  Our contracts are mostly at JBLM – vehicle maintenance, custodial, sanitation (porta potties), central issues facility – distributing uniforms.  Have contracts in Bremerton too. 
• Just purchased an aerospace manufacturing facility from a similar employer – looking to fill it with veteran employees as that fits Boeing’s priorities.
• Have large footprint on the East Coast – start one or two new contracts per year. 

Core Values

• Integrity
• Quality
• Partnership
  • Huge part of our business, and why we are successful today.
  • Able to maintain business through community partners. 
  • We rely a lot on referrals from Department of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) to staff our contracts – that isn’t the only way we staff, but a big way we do that
  • How can Skookum partner with you or your organizations?
    • If you have people interested in employment that have a disability
    • They do have a competitive process – they apply on-line and mark disability or veteran (go to https://skookum.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/careers to browse careers and apply – ed)
    • Give preference to vets and people with disabilities – and through Ability One we can ask if they have a disability and we can source that documentation.  I can provide more about those documentation needs
    • Carved jobs – occasionally someone reaches out – a parent with a child with a severe developmental disability – and want the child to work 10 hours a week.  We will sometimes do a carved job – to give the person value and have somewhere to go during the day.  If you have someone you know interested, we would work to make that happen.
    • Question - How about disabled veteran with a criminal charge? Sierra  - aerospace would be best for that – fewer requirements than the background check needed on a federal installation.  Probably refer to aerospace facility.  We do hire with a bad background – misdemeanors considered on a case-by-case basis
• Why work here?
• Vocational specialist on site to provide accommodation (if I spell accommodation with just one “m” one more time and have to go correct it I’m going to lose my mind. –ed) and support – available 24x7 for assistance or just someone to talk to
• Really support employees finding employment elsewhere – goal is to train and have them go somewhere else and expand their career.  We have entry level folks coming into janitorial.
• Drug testing done for Commercial Drivers License (CDL) drivers and at the aerospace facility – don’t drug test others.
• Work on resume writing, career skills, provide time to go to interviews.
• Managers are veterans or have disabilities and are very understanding – knowing employees might need to go the VA for a half day.
• ADA is a challenging process – for employees and employers.  At Skookum, that is everyday – from the start – even if they don’t know they need them
• Competitive wages and full benefits.  Pay over minimum wage on all jobs. 
• I work with youth with MH – they can’t work so many hours – they youth are just walking around.  We need things for them to do.  I’d love to get them into something like this. Sierra – a carved position may be a good thing.
• Joy – do they work their way up from a carved position? I’d think you can start there but get to 40 hours per week.  Sierra – it depends on the situation – it is difficult with the carved positions because they aren’t a contracted position
• Al – shared jobs – two people doing one job?  Sierra – don’t do that, but maybe in the future.  At our home office, we do share a janitorial job between two.
• Question – accommodation – is individual-paced training possible for someone with severe disabilities? – Sierra – yes definitely – if they have a job coach they  can bring them with them, we provide support too.