Saitech Inc., being AbilityOne authorized also support are efforts in assisting Government and private sector companies to achieve, grow and assist in their Supplier Diversity programs.
AbilityOne Program
The AbilityOne Program is a federal procurement program that generates jobs for individuals who are blind or have another significant disability through the manufacturing of products or the provision of services required by federal personnel. Products and services on the AbilityOne Procurement List are mandatory for use by federal customers. The mandatory source requirement of the AbilityOne Program as outlined by the Javits-Wagner-O’Day (JWOD) Act (41 U.S.C. 46 – 48c) must be adhered by all schedule holders. Certain commercial products are considered “essentially the same” (ETS) as AbilityOne products. Within the office products and hardware/industrial products categories, the Commission has established a required list of items that all commercial distributors must make available.
AbilityOne Facts
Employs approximately 45,000 people who are blind or have significant disabilities
Employs approximately 3,000 veterans, including wounded warriors
Provides SKILCRAFT® and other AbilityOne products
Operates at more than 1,000 locations representing 40 government agencies across 15 time zones including all 50 states and Guam
Operates more than 150 Base Supply Centers at military and government installations
Coordinates participation from more than 550 nonprofit agencies nationwide
More than $3.3 billion of AbilityOne products and services were procured by the federal government in fiscal year 2017.
The U.S. AbilityOne Commission® has designated National Industries for the Blind (NIB) and SourceAmerica®, as the two central nonprofit agencies (CNAs) to help implement the AbilityOne® Program.
These organizations facilitate the distribution of government orders of Procurement List products and services among nonprofit agencies employing people who are blind or have significant disabilities. They also perform other functions that assist nonprofit agencies that participate in the AbilityOne Program.
NIB and SourceAmerica work closely with contracting activities and nonprofit agencies to match government requirements with nonprofit agency capabilities. One key NIB and SourceAmerica activity is visiting government contracting activities to jointly explore with government personnel which products and services may be suitable for provision by local nonprofit agencies.
At least 75 percent of an agency’s total direct labor hours must be performed by people who are blind or who have a significant disability. The work on Federal contracts may be facility-based, such as the contract to manufacture the U.S. Army Battle Dress Uniform, or community-based, such as a call center service contract with the Environmental Protection Agency that was established to assist consumers with questions about the harmful effects of lead.
To participate in the AbilityOne Program, nonprofit agencies must become affiliates of either NIB or SourceAmerica. There is no charge to join.
NIB-associated agencies are nonprofits that provide people who are blind with employment and rehabilitative service such as early childhood intervention, adult literacy, low vision examinations and aids, Braille literacy, nutritional/health services, occupational/physical therapy, personal and career counseling, recreation, transportation, mobility, daily living skills, employment training and more. For more information about NIB and how to become a NIB-associated agency, go to NIB (www.nib.org) for more information.
SourceAmerica-associated agencies are community rehabilitation programs that provide training and employment to people with significant disabilities. In total, SourceAmerica-associated agencies provide employment to more than 115,000 individuals with disabilities. To learn more about SourceAmerica and how to become a SourceAmerica-affiliated agency, please visit www.sourceamerica.org.
For any inqueries kindly contact Erwin Villanueva : erwin@esaitech.com
