This has been an achievement for the manufacturing division as well as for the individual employees who have successfully completed training and can attain well-paid jobs. The company employs just over 75 people, and has hired 11 employees who are deaf through Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin and Metropolitan Chicago. A custom injection molding company in Menomonee Falls, EPC produces a range of items, including fast food trays, water softener valves, fans and parts for motorcycles. Interpreters are hired as needed to coach deaf employees in the specifics of their assignments, and shift supervisors work closely with Goodwill's job coaches. They communicate well on the production floor, though, and get their message across.
All employees receive identical pay, benefits and advancement opportunities.
At a Business Advisory Council meeting, the need was aired. The company offered to be a community-based training site for Goodwill, but went well beyond Goodwill's initial idea. Trainees would prepare boxes for customer order fulfillment. Accommodations for extra training and the adjustment of schedules to coordinate with public transportation were two more ways that Sara Lee Hosiery bent over backwards to make these jobs possible. Bowers' rallying for Goodwill also opened the door for industrial contracts with Sara Lee.