Lansing -Governor Jennifer M. Granholm has proclaimed October 2009 Investing in Abilities Month in Michigan. The proclamation is to encourage employers to hire qualified people with disabilities, focusing on their abilities. This annual observance is a time to recognize the important role of workers with disabilities in Michigan’s economy.

“The greatest challenge facing people with disabilities today,” said Patrick Cannon, State Director of the Michigan Commission for the Blind and Disability Policy Advisor to Governor Jennifer M. Granholm, “is the fact that too often employers focus only on a disability, never giving the individual an opportunity to compete for the jobs on the basis of what they can do. Thanks to our ‘Investing in Abilities’ theme, more and more Michigan employers are learning that employing people with disabilities makes good business sense and is good for the bottom line.”

This proclamation carries on the work done by many public and private disability organizations in Michigan to promote Investing in Abilities activities over the past 21 years, in order to increase accessibility to the workplace and shatter the stereotypes that create barriers to employment. The proclamation is online on the Michigan Commission for the Blind website at www.michigan.gov/mcb.