OE Enterprises named Business of the Year

Billy Swann’s favorite part about coming to work every day is simply getting to do his job. He works as a janitor at the OE Enterprises building and at a consignment shop in Hillsborough.

But Swann wouldn’t be employed if it wasn’t for OE Enterprises, a company that places adults with physical and mental disabilities in the workforce and helps them excel.

The company’s efforts have not gone unnoticed.
In October, the Hillsborough/ Orange County Chamber of Commerce named OE Enterprises Business of the Year for its services to the community.

“We provide a great service to our community by providing a great service to you,” said Joe Bumgarner Jr., the program services manager at OE Enterprises.

Swann is one of four workers with disabilities employed by Carolina Cleaning Associates, a subdivision of OE Enterprises, created after the company received a grant from the N.C. Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services.

Donna Musson, vice president of OE program services, said they were pleased to receive the award.

“The people we’re working with have disabilities, but that has nothing to do with the award,” she said. “This was an award for a great business, and we were thrilled to be recognized for that.”
OE Enterprises currently helps about 45 people with fairly significant disabilities succeed at work and finds job placement for an additional 85, Musson said.

Aside from job placement, OE Enterprises also provides services like extra training to prepare its workers for the job market.
When finding someone a job, OE Enterprises not only takes into account job preference but also the applicant’s skill set and the impact the position will have in his or her life, Musson said.

“We try to listen to what’s really important to that person,” she said. “We try to look at other parts of their lives that would be related to their jobs as well.”

Holly Riddle, the executive director of the N.C. Council on Developmental Disabilities, said she admires OE Enterprises’ constructive approach when it comes to placing its workers.

“It’s hard to be part of a community when you can’t afford to go out and see a movie or get a pizza like everybody else,” she said.
She said the majority of disabled people are unemployed, and organizations like OE Enterprises help to ensure every person who wants to work can work.

Musson said it’s important that people are hired for their abilities rather than out of pity.

“I don’t think people should hire people with disabilities because they feel sorry for them, but because, like any other person they hire, they will be a really good employee for that business.”

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