Meet Bluco's supported employment team
For these kids, we were able to create a "what's next" that opened the door to a career in manufacturing. And that helps more than the individual. It helps the family, the community and Bluco. We are Making it Better together.
Alison Grumbles, Job Coach
Bluco’s Supported Employment Team (SET) is an important part of our company culture. We recently found out more about SET from the team members themselves: Jack, Mike, Ryan, Kevin and Brandon. Most of these young men have been an official part of the group since we put it together almost five years ago.
Before heading out to the shop to see what their typical day is like, we caught up with one of their Bluco job coaches, Alison Grumbles. She filled us in on the team’s origins & objectives.
What is Bluco’s Supported Employment Team?
The origins of this team extend farther than just company culture. “This group evolved after trying different ways to help Naperville’s community of people with developmental and intellectual disabilities,” says Alison. “At first, we provided on-site vocational training to interested high school students. Bluco regularly had 15-20 high school students here in the facility, finding out what a manufacturing job might be like.”
Eventually, the coaching team wanted to provide a more individualized experience. “The team we have now started out as temporary employees. But they work so well together and were learning so much — we wanted to find a way for them to stay on more permanently,” says Alison. That’s when Bluco decided to offer the group part-time employee status. The decision was made not only to allow the continued growth of the team, but also because what they do is highly valued by everyone at Bluco. “The work this team does isn’t busy work. It’s work that’s vital to what we do, and the team takes real pride in that,” she adds.
The Story Behind the Team’s Beginnings
Bluco’s interest in assisting young people with disabilities did not come out of nowhere. The challenges faced by this group are challenges that Bluco’s Scott Ellig has guided his own son through for over two decades.
Scott is a foundational team member at Bluco, helping to create our company culture for over 35 years. His son Jack, who is now part of SET, helped cement the future of the team by testing out our procedures and specialized equipment so we could work out the kinks.
When Scott first proposed the idea of taking on the team as part-time employees, Jack was immediately on board. Soon, the whole company embraced the concept.
Engineers provided the specialized workstations shown on the right. They’re well lit, include space for tacking up visual aids, and help the employees stay organized. Meanwhile, the manufacturing department designed and machined adaptive devices to help the team get their work done.
Learn more about Bluco’s Supported Employment Team here.
From Training to Real Impact: What SET Does at Bluco
The best way to find out what a typical SET day entails was to send a volunteer to roll up her sleeves and get to work alongside the team.
The first stop for our volunteer (who normally works in the creative department and admits to a complete lack of manufacturing skills) was at Jack’s station, where he showed how to assemble two-piece connection bolts. Jack explained what to do, and then demonstrated.
When our volunteer got hers assembled correctly (on the second try), Jack cheered. He went on to tell us that he makes dozens of these bolts in one sitting.
Then it was on to assembling toe clamps. Like the connection bolts (and true to our company culture), every part is QC’d after assembly, and every task offers a new skill-building opportunity.
The toe clamp assembly provides an opportunity to practice manual dexterity, and to build spatial relation skills. Plus, it gives our stock room a few more sets of trained hands to get work done faster.
Mike took over at the next station, patiently demonstrating how to assemble spacer sets to be shelved for inventory. That’s him on the left showing us which spacers are which.
This task involves assembling, sorting and stacking 17 parts in order. Mike made sure our volunteer got her spacers in order from smallest to largest. He paused to reference the laminated guide in front of him much less than our volunteer did.
Then it was Ryan’s turn to teach, showing how to clean Swing Clamps.
This particular task is Ryan’s favorite, and we quickly saw why. It was pretty satisfying to see how clean the team was able to get the bright yellow clamps. Ryan removed all the old stickers and had several clamps looking like new in no time.
Learning New Skills and Having Fun Along the Way
At the end of the process at each station, the finished parts are shelved and re-inventoried to Bluco’s used part stock. As they reshelved parts, the employees shared a few favorite moments from their time at work.
Jack remembered the time he got mud from an on-site excavation all over the bottom of his shoe. He tried wiping it off and transferred part of the mess to his gloved hand. He showed us exactly how it went down, and we laugh. “Wait – it gets funnier,” he tells us. As a job coach was helping him get the rest of the mud off his shoe, he put his hand on her shoulder for support…leaving a perfect mud print on her back.
Then there was the time SET was pitching in to help Bluco volunteers clean up our adopted section of the Illinois Prairie Path. They found an entire men’s suit partially covered by dirt. The stories they made up to explain how it got there kept the whole crew laughing as they worked!
The group runs through more memories like this, smiling as they recall the times they’ve shared. It’s clear that both coaches and employees love what they do, and the peers they get to work with.
Why This Team Makes Bluco Better
As we wrap up, Alison sums up the importance of our team. “This is all about putting people first, making a difference, and leaving things better than we found them. Those things are in our corporate DNA statement. This group helps us bring those values to life. And in the process, we hope we’re giving these young people a greater opportunity to have a successful life.”
“For these kids, we were able to create a ‘what’s next” that opened the door to a career in manufacturing. And that helps more than the individual. It helps the family, the community and Bluco. We are Making it Better together.”
– ALISON GRUMBLES, BLUCO SET JOB COACH
