BRN
Julie Briggs
 Nonprofit organization – own 501c3 (incorporated)
 Mission – provide businesses with education and resources for the employment of people with
disabilities
 Committees => community involvement, spread the mission, education for the community
 Sticker program – disability friendly businesses, allows everyone in the community to nominate
businesses
o Beneficial, a way to market BRN, give to the community and show appreciation
 NDEAM event – building relationships with businesses, 2nd year = 42 businesses, 3rd year = 54,
last year = 74
o Opportunity for education, collaboration between organizations and BRN
 BRN collaboration with Project SEARCH, Voc Rehab, etc.
 Disability Mentoring Day – looking to expand the program, currently one day a year
o Match people with disabilities with businesses, leads to employment
o Expand to an ongoing project

Directive – be a part of various committees, commissions
o ADA Celebration, DAC (Disability Awareness Commission), Project SEARCH (Business
Advisory Board, working with staff), BRN Board and subcommittees, SHRM, Chamber,
Business and Professional Women, Sioux Falls School Parent Advisory Council, SBVI
Board, Interagency Council (SF School District – Transition), Job Provider meetings, State
Employment Leadership Network (DDN), Down Syndrome Clinic (partnership with
Sanford)
Dawn Uthe
 NDEAM allows Julie to become involved with SHRM, accreditation points
 Sticker Program – people see a business with that, they want to be a consumer of that business
Joy Christiansen
 Adds organizations on Facebook, looks once a week to find new postings, share to BRN page
Colleen Moran
 Sticker Program – nomination of a business in California through the website
Julie Benz
 Difference in the community over past 5 years, more questions about resources, members
available to provide information, education
 Having one place to go to has been extremely helpful, makes it a loss less frustrating and
challenging for those who are seeking out the information
 A contact (Julie) available to have an ongoing relationship – agencies, organizations, businesses,
health care
Julie Briggs
 Building relationships, collaborations with LifeScape, Voc Rehab, etc.
 Able to provide referrals, help in other areas
 BRN Newsletter, business, person spotlight
Terry Rist
 Visible, director available as a good contact
 Everyone knows Julie, brings a great face to the organization
Task Force Recommendations and BRN – Eric Weiss
 Employment Works Taskforce, organized by the governor
 Annual Report – sent to taskforce members on progress made in the past year on strategies
outlined by the taskforce, Julie and BRN included for contact
o Kim: Business Specialist – single point of contact for employers (state-wide), provides
technical assistance, information on resources, etc. Works closely with BRN as well,
working together to solve the common goal, partnership with Julie
o Recommendation 1, strategy 3 – Rapid City
o Increase number of people in integrated employment opportunities – BRN = build the
capacity of CSPs
o Ability for hire campaign – recommendation to promote people with disabilities to
employers in the state, contacted a media firm for campaign – change the way
employers are approached
Jennifer Erickson
 Don’t get too consumed in explaining why, you don’t have to sell it – you have to tell them how
 Education process is a lot shorter, it’s more difficult to find people
Julie Benz
 Project SEARCH – absenteeism and turnover rate is almost zero, makes a big difference with
that balance
 What does that mean?
 (Follow up on Jennifer’s comment) How to get the individuals?
Eric Weiss
 Ability for hire – education through commercials, share benefits of hiring, provide resources,
opportunity to send questions and ask for help, share information on resources including BRN
 Include BRN in Ability For Hire website – contact available in town
Dawn Uthe
 Education on what the cost is going to be – employers that are naïve thinking it will cost a lot of
money and time
 People think accommodation will cost a lot of money, education teaches that it doesn’t
Eric Weiss
 Share BRN feedback, an existing board to help reach common goal
 Asking employers to take another step, the state should as well
 State will be an employer on the Talent Acquisition Portal (job bank for people with disabilities)
– BHS interest in getting involved
 Department of Labor website a resource for Ability For Hire
Bernie Grimme
 Federal contractors looking for certain number of people with disabilities employed
Julie Benz
 Common identity, common brand – BRN in Sioux Falls, Kim elsewhere, Taskforce in west, each
functioning as their own entity, confusing for those seeking information
 Outcomes comparable? Is there a way to make a statewide initiative easier to understand?
o Kim acting as “umbrella” (BG)
Dan Goodwin
 What’s happening between the East and West?
o Disability programs and developers across the state, different in each area/city (BG)
Bernie Grimme – Taskforce
 Working with individuals with multiple impairments, less job experience, independent living
issues
 Less about accommodation, more about support for people on jobs – education to employers
on supports, work with supports to help
 Tribal Voc. Rehab programs, veterans: 105 out of 2000 applicants – PTSD, chemical dependency,
criminal background – more complex situations
Kim Holberg
 There are resources available for maintaining employment, work together with employer and
employee
Jennifer Erickson
 How do Kim and Julie share information – how is the data collected, business contacts kept,
tracked?
o Businesses who hire clients are tracked (BG)
o BRN: database of everyone communicated with – contact but not details of
conversation (JB)
o BRN is contracted, not on the state system, and therefore cannot share information
o Employer Contact Database***
Julie Benz
 Develop consistency, same objective – statewide BRN? (JB)
 Between Kim and Julie
 Feels the same to a consumer


Project Skills – schools to state agencies, six students this year
State agencies are equally as unsure as businesses
Julie Benz
 Consistent outcome measures – what should we be looking at (as a state)? It’s hard to see the
direct/indirect impact
o Documentation, basic questions (did this information help? Did it help increase your
knowledge?) BG
o Change in hiring handbook, before/after (DG)
o Social media hits, measuring visits to webpages, surveys (EW)
 Business-led organizations in other states? – BLN working on a larger scale

Business referrals

Meet on a regular basis (BG)

Input and feedback is greatly appreciated, especially from an employer viewpoint – Kim