“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.

Sarah Bowman, VersAbility’s director of marketing and development, said the agency has been supporting people with disabilities for over 60 years. The local center offers business services, supported employment, transition to work, and day support services. The parent also offers children’s services and community living—neither of which are offered here.

“We are a comprehensive service provider, serving over 1,400 people with disabilities,” Grzelkowski said of VersAbility’s overall support network.

However, there’s room for improvement, she said, and she challenged each business person in the room to think of ways to hire disabled persons to fill job openings. Clients handle a variety of jobs now, she said, including some that require high-level clearance.

VersAbility workers package first-aid kits and medical supplies, assembly conveyor track parts, coordinate mailings, and soon will clean and label flower pots, Grzelkowski said. Working with an outside source, VersAbility developed a new solution to digitize industrial X-rays for the aerospace industry, she said, and the agency has contracts with a number of area military bases as varied as food service at Naval Air Station Oceana Dam Neck Annex in Virginia Beach and switchboard operations and food service at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Hampton.

Electronics recycling involves disabled clients disassembling electronics, securely destroying all data to rigid Department of Defense standards. Grzelkowski said this helps the environment, as components are reused and recycled. VersAbility has received special certifications, she said, which demonstrate the agency’s commitment to data security and environmental stewardship.

Not only does the agency try to place people in jobs, but it received a grant to offer Ready 2 Work, a summer workforce development program held with local Boys and Girls Clubs, that will be offered again this coming summer.

Jobs are not only created in this region, Grzelkowski said, but working with the Ability One and Source America programs, VersAbility has helped create over 300 additional jobs for people with disabilities around the country. VersAbility has a contract to handle ship loading at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, Grzelkowski said, as well as a new contract in Guam.

VersAbility workers are dependable, Grzelkowski said, and job coaches try to find jobs they can perform well or switch them to other tasks. She told of one worker in Hampton who walked 2½  hours to make sure he didn’t miss his midnight shift following a major storm and of a Puller Center client who travels 75 miles on a bus to participate.

 Grzelkowski urged the business leaders to become a business partner, helping spread the word about the private, nonprofit organization’s programs and services. Also, she asked local business owners to volunteer to assist with programs at the Puller Center, which is headed by site manager Joy Henderson.

Another business awareness luncheon will be held at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, March 30, at VersAbility headquarters, 2520 58th Street, Hampton. To RSVP, call Jessie at 757-896-6473.

For more information, call 804-693-3114 or 757-896-6462.