By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
In one room, workers put together flow lines for windshield washers. In another, workers put labels on bags of bird seeds. In another, workers rebuild ink and laser cartridges.
And in another area, people on their day off from work sit together and play cards.
This is just as Vic Gable had imagined it could be. A place where Wood Lane workers with developmental disabilities could work together under one roof. A place where those same workers could hang out with friends on their days off.
And a place where Work Leads to Independence (still known on paper as Wood Lane Industries) has a storefront in the Bowling Green community.
Vic Gable in front of new worksite on South Main Street
“You always have a wish list of what you want, and this had it all,” Gable, director of Works Leads to Independence, said of the program’s new location at 991 S. Main St. – formerly the home of Heringhaus Furniture. “This is in the heart of the community.”
On the very first day the site was open, customers walked in the front door to get document shredding services and laser cartridges refurbished.
“The community has been very welcoming to us,” Gable said. “We’re loving the fact that we wanted to have a sales front” and the community is responding.
Gable admitted he had some concerns about some of the older workers adapting to the new site. He was greatly relieved when one of the longest employees, David Schult, who has worked for Wood Lane for 52 years, quickly took to the new location.
“I love it,” Schult said as he removed paperclips from paper before it was shredded. “I get paid for doing this.”
A portion of his paychecks goes toward “pop, snacks, accessories and stuff,” Schult said.
On the one-week anniversary of the move, the room Schult was working in had several jobs being performed. Hangers were being cleaned and straightened to be reused by Cintas. The labels were being put on feed bags for Vitakraft. Spray assembly parts were being prepared for Tolco of Toledo. Windshield wiper flow lines were being worked on for Toledo Mold & Die. And a valve control was being assembled by Argo Hytos.
“It breaks very easily, so it has to be done by hand,” Gable said of the valve control.
Laser Cartridge Express workers refurbish ink cartridges.
Elsewhere in the 17,000-square-foot building, documents were being scanned for school districts and ink cartridges were being refurbished for Laser Cartridge Express.
“We were hoping that would last 10 years,” Gable said of the LCE business that has been existence for 25 years and had a record year in 2017.
On any given day, 12 different jobs could be taking place in the new Work Leads to Independence location.
“It’s nice having a specific area,” said Kent Strange, of WLI business and community development. “We’re able to totally have a new canvas. It helps refresh all the attitudes.”
Plus it appears to be good for business.
“We’re already seeing new jobs coming in, new opportunities,” Strange said.
The new site on South Main is also acting as a “home base” for Wood Lane individuals who work at jobs out in the community. “This is just a hub,” for those employees who work at such sites as a BGSU dining hall, Target and All About the Kids. On one day last week, a group of them gathered for social activities or educational programs at the new location on their days off.
Workers off for the day hang out at wli.
All together, the Work Leads to Independence program provides services for more than 200 workers, Gable said.
Gable said it was identified 18 months ago that the program could no longer afford to maintain its three buildings – the CES program on Newton Road, the LCE program on Fairview Avenue, and Wood Lane Industries on East Gypsy Lane Road.
“We’ve reduced our overhead tremendously,” he said, by paying one mortgage rather than three rents.
An official ribbon cutting at the new Work Leads to Independence will be Jan. 24, at 4 p.m.
