Sand Springs residents and business receive commendations from Governor

Sand Springs, Okla. -- Three Sand Springs residents and one business received a commendation from Gov. Brad Henry Oct. 30 during the Governor’s Disability Employment Awards ceremony at the Governor’s Mansion in Oklahoma City.
Jeff Dickson, Steve Scott, and James Young all received commendations for outstanding performance on their jobs at the Wal-Mart Super Center. Dickson has worked for Wal-Mart since 2002 in the Lawn and Garden Department. Scott has worked at the same store for the past 19 years and now works as a packager in the bakery. Young has worked at Wal-Mart for four years and has been promoted to overnight maintenance.

The Wal-Mart Super Center also received a Governor’s commendation for hiring persons with disabilities and enabling them to succeed.  Teressia Kehr, store manager, attended the ceremony and accepted the award on behalf of the store.

“It is employees and businesses like these that have put Oklahoma ahead of every state in the nation at employing people with disabilities,” said Howard Hendrick, Cabinet Secretary of Human Services and Director of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. Hendrick presented the commendations on behalf of Gov. Henry who was unable to attend the ceremony.

“For the past three years, Oklahoma has led the nation in assisting people with developmental disabilities to find competitive jobs and become working taxpayers,” said Hendrick. “Today, 60 percent of individuals with developmental disabilities served by the OKDHS Developmental Disabilities Services Division participate in supported employment services.”

The Governor’s Disability Employment Awards are co sponsored by Gov. Brad Henry and Lt. Gov. Jari Askins, along with OKDHS/DDSD, the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services and the Oklahoma Association of Persons in Supported Employment.

*To see Oklahoma’s ranking as compared to other states in regard to the numbers of persons with developmental disabilities in competitive jobs (supported employment) go to, www.statedata.info/.  This website is a project of the Institute for Community Inclusion at UMass Boston, supported in part by the Administration on Developmental Disabilities, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under cooperative agreement with additional support from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research of the U.S. Department of Education. 

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