One mission, two bottom lines

Skills Inc. is a unique nonprofit manufacturing company that serves the aerospace industry and is dedicated to helping people with disabilities thrive in today’s manufacturing environment.

The Auburn, Wash., company describes itself with a one-two-three mnemonic: one mission (creating a stable, rewarding workplace for people with disabilities), two bottom lines (financial and social) and three paths to achieving its goals (employing people with disabilities, offering vocational assessment and training, and serving as a role model and resource for diversity to employers in the community).

By design, 60 percent of Skills’ employees have a self-identified disability. All images courtesy of Skills.

Skills Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. It is entirely self-funded by its lines of business, primarily machining and fabricating aerospace parts. Started in 1966 with a $4,500 grant from The Boeing Employee Good Neighbor Fund, Skills Inc.’s 2016 revenues exceeded $59 million, and it produced 3.5 million components.

One in five Americans has a disability. Sixty percent of Skills’ employees have a self-identified disability. Skills operates as a role model for inclusion and disability employment where persons with and without disabilities work together in all areas of the organization.

Ability and Attitude

“Providing employment opportunities to individuals with disabilities has given us the opportunity to think deeply about how to design a work environment that allows all employees, including those with disabilities, to be successful,” said Skills Inc. CEO Todd Dunnington.

Todd Dunnington is CEO of Skills.

Skills employs people with a variety of disabilities, whether physical, medical, sensory (sight, hearing), emotional (depression, anxiety) or learning, Dunnington added.

Skills serves as a resource for members of the community who may experience significant barriers to employment. Dunnington said the company hires people for their abilities—not their disabilities.

“We have a strong emphasis on job fit, and we maintain high expectations for all employees,” he said. “We provide accommodations, when requested, that are typically low cost and easily maintained.”

For example, to support the communication needs of deaf employees, the company keeps American Sign Language interpreters on staff. It also uses assistive technology, so an employee at a work station can communicate with anyone in the nation via a webcam and an ASL interpretation network that’s available to all employers.

“Most importantly, we hire people for their attitude,” Dunnington said. “An inclusive work environment attracts employees who want to work hard and enjoy working in an atmosphere where teamwork and co-worker support is the norm.”

One of the many pipelines the company maintains to supply new employees is the Skills Inc. Aerospace Internship Program. AIP is offered to special-education students from local high schools who may be struggling in the classroom. Most have learning disabilities, and some also have physical disabilities.

CNC machinesallow Skills to bid on jobs for increasingly complex aerospace parts.

According to Dunnington, AIP hosted 33 students this year who came to Skills each morning to receive classroom and shop-floor training while also earning credits towards graduation. At the same time, they learned applied math and other academic subjects, as well as valuable life skills such as being on time, following directions and communicating with supervisors and co-workers.