Tulsa Employers Receive Commendations from Governor

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Tulsa-area employers Central Tube and Bar and Taco Bell received commendations from Gov. Brad Henry and Lt. Gov. Jari Askins on Oct. 6 during the Governor’s Disability Employment Awards at the Governor’s Mansion in Oklahoma City. October is national Disability Employment Awareness Month.
Jene Harmon is the general manager of Central Tube and Bar in Tulsa. He also volunteers his time to serve on the board for the Bridges Foundation, an organization that provides employment and job training to many people with disabilities. Harmon wants his business to be a training location and a conduit to community employment for people with disabilities. He currently employs four people from the Bridges Foundation in his business, working side by side with the rest of his employees. Harmon ensures the employees in training have opportunities to sample various jobs, use the machinery, and makes accommodations when needed. Once an employee learns skills and is able to find other community employment, another person from the Bridges is given the same opportunity. Harmon is a business leader in his community and as such speaks at various conferences and meetings. He is continually promoting the benefits of hiring persons with disabilities and encourages other business leaders to look inside their own organizations and give people a chance. 

The managers at four different Taco Bell restaurants have worked with the Major Group, a supported employment agency, to hire four people with disabilities. The locations include two restaurants in Tulsa, one in Sapulpa and one in Sand Springs. The managers have all shown compassion, insight and patience with their employees. They have changed work schedules when needed, set up check lists to help employees complete their tasks, and even established a rewards program. The jobs that people have filled include lobby attendants, cashiers, kitchen support and drive-through attendants. The supported employees are always included in Taco Bell gatherings and meetings and are treated with respect by all the other employees. This top-down attitude of inclusion by the managers has helped all the employees to be successful.

“It is employees and businesses like these that have put Oklahoma ahead of every state in the nation at employing people with disabilities,” said Director Howard Hendrick of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services.

“For the past three years, Oklahoma has led the nation in assisting people with developmental disabilities to find competitive jobs and become working taxpayers," Hendrick said. “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 Department of Rehabilitation Services, and the Oklahoma Association of Persons in Supported Employment.

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Editors Note: 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, http://www.statedata.info/ (Link opens in new window). This web site 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.