“Over 80 percent of people with disabilities nationwide are unemployed—this is the greatest untapped talent pool in the country,” a speaker said at a business luncheon in Gloucester Monday.

Addressing about two dozen business owners at Lulu Birds Kitchen on Main Street, Kasia Grzelkowski said that this is a “tragic waste of human potential.” Grzelkowski is president and chief executive officer of VersAbility Resources, the Hampton-based parent of the Puller Center in Gloucester, which sponsored the luncheon to bring awareness to how disabled persons can become valuable, hard-working employees.

VersAbility supports over 600 individuals with disabilities in successful employment, Grzelkowski said, including over 40 clients who receive varied services through the Puller Center. The Gloucester facility is a multi-faceted work and service center, she said, and is the only such facility that serves the 10 counties of the Middle Peninsula and Northern Neck.

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