Read below for the Accessible Text version:
Table of Contents:
Cover
Leadership Message
Volunteer Board of Directors
Capital Campaign
Numbers
Base Supply Centers
Shot in the Dark
Hard Work Pays Off
#MissionFirst
Social Enterprise
Events & Tours
2019 Donor Thank You List
Beyond Vision – 2019 Annual Report
[image]Rendering of the VisABILITY Center building.
Future Home of the VisABILITY Center Campus
Beyond Vision | 414-778-5800 | 5316 West State Street, Milwaukee, WI 53208
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Dear Friends of Beyond Vision,
The year of progress for Beyond Vision can be summed up this way…#MissionFirst. More than a decade ago, our leadership team embraced the philosophy that putting the mission first should drive every decision we make. We continually ask ourselves if we are making the best decision for the mission, ahead of personal or departmental priorities. If so, we are making the right decision. Years later that simple yet powerful philosophy is now reaping rewards in the form of growth. We are seeing growth in our jobs, our culture, computer accessibility, competitive salaries, the Board of Directors, and our fiscal health. This is no accident. Additionally, a dedicated Board and a strong, persistent leadership team lays the foundation for this growth. I am blessed to have both.
The most important measure of success is growing our mission. We’re reaching record levels of employment within all sectors of the company: from the Commercial Manufacturing shop floor, to the Customer Care Center, to our Government Products business unit, and to our eight remote distribution Base Supply Centers. Having successfully launched a new fully accessible ERP system in our Milwaukee operation, we now have 100% computer software accessibility for every position. This change in technology allows us to hire and promote any deserving sighted or mission employee to any role.
Our culture continues to grow healthier. Employees in all areas of the company have a strong emotional engagement to growing the mission. We center ourselves around Servant Leadership principles which are baked into the corporate Values and part of every employee’s annual review. The concept that leaders are focused on serving their staff to help them achieve their best now permeates the entire culture. Our employees and customers can feel it when they walk through the building.
Our leadership team also continues to rally around a simple yet powerful metaphor we call the “Runway.” Beyond Vision is a “Runway…a place to land and a place to take off in your career.” A person may ‘take off’ inside Beyond Vision or they
may choose to “take off’ elsewhere in another company. Either way, we assist our employees to achieve their career aspirations. We call it a “win” when someone achieves upward mobility inside or outside the company. This #MissionFirst focus separates and defines us.
In July we instituted a formal job definition system. Most of our hourly employees received a pay increase adjustment to insure our pay is market competitive throughout the entire company. A similar analysis is about to get underway for our salaried positions. We’ve done this to support our assertion that, as I like to say, “This is not your grandfather’s sheltered workshop.” Said another way, “Beyond Vision is a competitive and integrated employer with the mission of providing career opportunities for people with vision loss.”
The good news is we are experiencing this growth. The opportunity is we have run out of physical space. As a result, we’ve leased additional manufacturing space as a short-term solution to support the continued expansion of our newly formed Government Products group. The long-term solution is to create the VisABILITY Center campus. In June, with our Board’s full support, we successfully purchased a former regional Sam’s Club facility with plans to renovate it and move our entire Milwaukee operations there. The new campus will provide Beyond Vision space to continue growing its mission for the foreseeable future.
We also plan to invite all other non-profit service providers within the vision loss community to join us at the new VisABILITY Center campus. This co-location model will broaden our shared mission by creating a one-stop-shop for people experiencing vision loss. Together, we can give them the support they need to live a full life; so their vision loss does not prevent them from pursuing their dreams.
Heavily dependent on fundraising, our sister non-profit service providers experience a tremendous and continuous financial struggle, which causes them to not be able to offer the programing and services they like to. They all have hopes of adding more to their existing services and training, however, their budget sometimes won’t allow such expansion. The result is a continuous struggle to optimize services offered within budget constraints. The VisAbility Center co-location concept will benefit the larger mission through significant operational cost savings across shared resources such as facilities maintenance, security, and perhaps computer systems. It makes no sense for these resources to be duplicated across the different non-profit entities. There’s little doubt co-location will lead to much better collaboration and mutual success while providing more value to the community we serve.
We are engaged in discussions with eye health providers about co-location. I’ve shared our dream with ophthalmologist and optometrist eye health professionals in the region at length. They absolutely love the concept. They see the value in being able to refer their patients to a single location for help and resources based on their individual needs.
Exciting times for Beyond Vision without a doubt! It’s all made possible by holding on tight to that modest yet potent philosophy. #MissionFirst
Sincerely,
Jim Kerlin, President & CEO and William Hughes, Chairman of the Board of Directors
[Image] Tony Creapeau, IT Technician, and Israel Cazares-Zurita, Accessibility Coordinator, perform accessibility testing using a variety of technology.
Thomas E. Arenberg, Chairman Emeritus, Accenture (Retired)
Shawn Duffy, C.P.A., Controller, WTC Machinery
John Emanuel, Senior Counsel, Husch Blackwell LLP (Retired)
William Hughes, Chairman, USAFR (Retired), Attorney, Partner, Husch Blackwell LLP
Eric D. Isbister, Secretary, CEO, GenMet Corporation
Danita Jackson, Intake Specialist, Disability Rights Wisconsin
James Kerlin, President & CEO, Beyond Vision
Paul E. Lima, Major General, U.S. Army (Retired)
Burton Metz, Vice President, Wangard Partners
Tom O’Connell, CEO, Tank Holding Corp./Snyder Industries (Retired)
Jeffrey Alan Peil, Solutions Development Lead, Ascension Information Services
Eric Schumann, Potala Company (Retired)
Art Wasserman, J.D., PhD, M.B.A., Rhodes Scholar, Corporate Division General Manager College Dean, Attorney (Retired)
Capital Campaign
The Blind Ambition Capital Campaign – A Future Built on Blind Ambition Becomes a Reality
Beyond Vision’s current facilities limit the growth of its mission to provide meaningful and sustainable employment
for people with vision loss.
Beyond Vision is choked for space as it continues to market its manufacturing, assembly and packaging, customer care center and business products services to a broad base of local, state and national customers.
Current facilities have limited storage, no loading docks and most critical, a lack of fire protection. The cost of necessary renovations and expansion far outweigh the value of the current properties.
It is time to expand Beyond Vision facilities.
Beyond Vision will build a state-of-the-art manufacturing and administrative campus in West Allis, Wisconsin to broaden its own capabilities and mission as well as invite co-location of other organizations serving people with vision loss.
Beyond Vision is forming unique partnerships to create one of the first co-located vision loss advocacy, education
and employment centers in the country.
The new Beyond Vision campus will be one of the first in the nation to provide comprehensive services to individuals and families impacted by vision loss. We will use a proven,
collaborative model, which combines co-located service providers in one easily accessible location.
The entire facility will be completely low vision friendly with aids such as:
· Universal design throughout interior spaces
· Textured flooring for easy navigation
· Ambient lighting for those with low vision
· Braille signage and audio navigation aids throughout the building
· Landscaping will feature a public space for neighborhood inclusion and a scent garden
· Wisconsin Lions Dog Park for guide dogs on the campus
· A wellness center featuring adapted workout machines tailored for people with vision loss or blindness
The Beyond Vision Campus will offer co-location opportunities to other organizations serving people with vision loss, organizations such as the Blinded Veterans of Wisconsin, the state of Wisconsin Office of Blind Vocational Instruction as well as providers of eye health, literacy and rehabilitation and advocacy groups.
The $19 million project will be centrally located with
convenient access to public transportation.
Financial support for the campus will utilize a combination of public and private funding with major foundations and individuals already committed to the project goal.
You can help. To learn more, contact Nick Czaplewski, nczaplewski@beyond-vision.org
50% Mission Ratio – 105 Employees, 53 Employees who are blind, 52 Employees who are sighted. All working side-by-side.
91,481 Blind Paid Working Hours
90% Blind Direct Labor for SKILCRAFT products
$26,904,688 Revenues
Our Mission:
Grow by being a valued partner to customers, suppliers, and the community while operating as a fiscally responsible enterprise.
[Image] Ericka Silas Team Lead as she is placing a package into a bin.
Our mission extends outside the state of Wisconsin. We provide employment opportunities for people who are blind or visually impaired across the USA by operating Base Supply Centers on Federal installations to serve our military with supplies and SKILCRAFT® products. These products include the privacy filters, floor mats, socket sets and sit-stand desks we produce at Beyond Vision.
• 934th Airlift Wing -Minneapolis, MN
• Coast Guard Island -Alameda, CA
• Defense Supply Center -Columbus, OH
• Fort McCoy -Fort McCoy, WI
• Naval Station Great Lakes – Great Lakes, IL
• NASA Ames Research Center -Moffett Field, CA
• Scott Air Force Base – Scott AFB, IL
• TACOM – Detroit Arsenal -Warren, MI
Golfers at our signature fundraising event gathered at Silver Spring Golf Club in September to support our job training programs. This event is a one-of-a-kind experience with half the course played in the dark.
Another great year with the best attendance on record and a wonderful time.
All in support of our mission.
[Image] collage of people preparing to golf and chatting before teeing off.
Finding and maintaining meaningful employment can be difficult for people living with vision loss. One person who understands this is Jedidiah Moss.
Jed was born with a rare degenerative eye condition, making him legally blind. While living in Marinette, WI, Jed struggled to find a consistent job. He had bounced around trying to get by on disability insurance and working for various restaurants and hotels in the Marinette area.
Although Jed possesses an incredible attitude and work ethic, he says finding a steady job was a struggle.
“Living with a vision impairment, it is difficult to find a good job. I think people often take those opportunities for granted.”
Jed heard about Beyond Vision from his friend and fellow alumni of the Wisconsin Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Ruben Rodriguez, a current Beyond Vision employee. Upon learning about the job opportunity at Beyond Vision, Jed made the difficult decision to move from Marinette to Milwaukee and began working with us in January of 2019.
Jed has very quickly established himself as a valuable member of the Beyond Vision team. Starting in the Assembly & Packaging business unit, it was clear Jed took pride in his work and was ready to assume a higher level of responsibility. In less than a year’s time, Jed has been promoted to Product Champion working on our new Sit-Stand Desk and Urban Operations Tool-Kit product lines.
“There is opportunity to advance here if you work hard; I appreciate that.
I look at every job as a challenge. I always try to beat what I had done the day before.”
In addition to our powerful vision and mission statements, Beyond Vision also has seven core values. We use these values to ensure that our operations, strategy, and culture are aligned to develop an organization that attracts and retains the best people. We use these values during our recruitment process and within our performance management processes. To be successful at Beyond Vision, it is not enough to have the right resume. Employee values need to align with Beyond Vision’s values.
Our first and most important value is
#MissionFirst. Our goal is for employees to consistently put the mission first. This does not mean sacrificing family time or individual accomplishments or recognition. We don’t want a team of individuals with poor work-life balance. It means, that in our day-to-day operations and interactions, we put the
#MissionFirst. For example, when there are successes, are we using “I” or “me” language or are we using “us” language? When there are failures, are we pointing fingers or are we working to resolve the issue? Are we willing to put our ego in our pocket and own up when we make a mistake? Are we willing to take on any task that moves our Mission forward? Or do we put our convenience ahead of the Mission?
Many organizations will develop vision and mission statements during a strategic planning process. They then put them on a wall or on their website, and forget them until the next strategic planning session. We work hard at Beyond Vision to make the Mission a part of our day-to-day conversation and operations. Our fidelity to this #MissionFirst value has led to our growth and success. It will also continue to be our beacon as we look to an exciting future.
Beyond Vision named Social Enterprise of the Year
The BizTimes Nonprofit Excellence Awards honor nonprofits making an impact in Wisconsin. This award recognizes a nonprofit organization that demonstrates creative application of the principles of social enterprise in their operation and funding.
MMAC/COSBE – Be the Spark Program
Milwaukee County Announcement of free Aira services at MKE Airport
Doors Open Milwaukee
Tour for Wisconsin Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired
Manufacturing Day
Senator Kooyenga Visit
Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce Tour
Wisconsin Manufacturing Month Tour
Wisconsin Procurement Institute – Wisconsin Marketplace Tradeshow
Other local schools and businesses
2019 DONORS – THANK YOU!
INDIVIDUALS
Jose Acevado
Ann Adkins
Peter Adkins
Roger Adkins
Dino Antonopoulos
Thomas & Diane Arenberg
Cliff & Janie Asmuth
Jean Avery
Mike Banach
Michael Barber & Jackie Herd-Barber
Kevin Barbour
Lukas Baumann
Brian Beaumier
Scott Beglinger
Lee Beitzel
Todd Bentley
Casey Berrall
Gordy Bradley
Chris Brannin
Garrett Brigman
Steve Bruno
Dan Brunow
Steve Brunow
Janet Buettner
Mike Buettner
Rob Buettner
Ron Buettner
Cindy Buss
Joe Carollo
Natalie Cerfus
Al Cervero
Robbin Cervero
Brian Clausen
Adam Connor
Kristin Cotter
Ed Couillard
Kristin Cox
Pat Crain
Patty Crain
Lisa Croatt
Wayne Croatt
Danielle Cruise
Matt Cruise
Jillian Cullver
Pat Czaplewski
Steve D’Amato
Carrie Davidson
Matt Davies
Mike Davis
Paul Dawson
Brian Dean
Paul Decoster
Bob Delgadillo
Trent Denlinger
Jerry DeQuardo
Tim Desmond
John Donovan
Andy Dressing
Dick Dubiak
Linda Dubiak
Shawn Duffy
Matt Dutton
Brian Dwyer
Charlene Dwyer
Kevin Dwyer
John Emanuel
Thomas Enters
Justin Erdamnn
Bernard Erenberger, Jr.
Luke Esslinger
Gordon and Anne Farr
Lisa Farr-Chowanek
Jake Feeley
John Feeley
Joseph Fenceroy
Noah Fenceroy
Steve Ferguson
Art Flater
LeAnne Foster
Bridget Fritz
Horace Gant
Fred & Anne Geilfuss
Frank Gimbel
Matt Glassel
Patty Gobin
Gary Goyke
Tim Granitz
Mary Gross
Michael Gryczka
Ryan Guilette
Ric Guthrie
Guy Gutsche
Mike Hacker
Tom Hagen
Blake Hammel
Colleen Hannon
Linda Hapka
Jason Harper
Mike Harpster
Greg Hart
Tyler Hart
David Haugh
Steve Heberer
Aaron Heidersheid
Nick Hernke
James Hofmann
Steve Hubacek
Kurt Huemmer
William & Patty Hughes
Patrick Hutchinson
Duncan Isbister
Eric Isbister
Mary Isbister
Danita Jackson
Nick Jahnke
Tom Kastroy
Tyler Kelly
Andy Kerlin
Bill Kerlin
Cynthia Kerlin
Drew Kerlin
James & Shawn Kerlin
Jeff Kerlin
Neal Kerlin
Alex Kihslinger
Paul Kihslinger
Bill King
Linda Klean
Kris Knudsen
Lisa Kratcha
Conner Laabs
Tim Lamm
Christa Lange
CJ Lange
Mary LaPointe
Stewart LaPointe
Bob Leppanen
Harry Lewis
Cindy Linnan
Pat Linnan
Deb Lucas
Jeff Lucas
Billy MacDonald
John Maggio
Michelle Martinson
Dave Mayo
Brian McNanny
Amy Meier
Burton Metz
Adam Meyer
Robin Mickler
Mike Miller
Mike Moennig
Austin Moore
Bridget Moore
Mike Moore
Paula Moore
Ronald Morey
Ashley Mueller
Chris Mullen
Eileen Murphy
Ryan Muzik
Paul & Cynthia Muzzey
Ryan Namey
Meghan Neimon
Deb Nelson
Angela Newman
Mike Newman
Joe Obligato
Jeff Olson
Anthony Otto
Cindy Pagenkopf
Kevin Pagenkopf
Jessica Parsons
George Patterson
Joe Paulus
Kevin Peters
Pat Pfersch
Luc Piessens
Cindy Pinkley
Henry Pinkos
Pat Pinkos
Julie Potnek
Chris Powers
Jakob Powers
Jeff Powers
Mike Proctor
Jason Putnam
Mike Quill
Kevin Rigg
Kevin Riordan & Martha Johnson
Ruben Rodriguez
Bobbi Ruston
Doug Ruston
Chris Ruud
Matt Schendel
Thomas Schiesl
Brigitte Schmoll
Scott Schultz
Carl Schumacher
Eric & Jane Schumann
Peter Schwabe
Nick Scott
John & Nancy Sennett
Bryan Severner
Sid Sidebotham
Lynn Sigfred
Liz Smith
Mike Smith
Tom Smith
Paul Spencer
Bob Stachowiak
John Stibal
Tracey Strombeck
Kedrick Strutz
Nate Suelflow
Abby Tanner
Dick Theado
Sharon Thompson
Ken Tibbits
Steve Ticcioni
Joyce Tomkowiak
Joe Torsiello
Juliet Urso
William & Barbara Velez
Aina Vilumsons
James & Yong Voigt
DiAnna Vouvakis
Emmanuel Vouvakis
Monica Waddington
Jack Walden
Jamison Walton
Jessica Walton
Arthur Wasserman
Shane Weiske
Nicholas Wergin
Chuck Wikenhauser
Trish Wikenhauser
Dan Wilkens
Aaron Winkler
Tom Wojcinski
Alejandro Zamoea
Jim Ziebart
Kristin Ziebart
Thomas Ziety
ORGANIZATIONS
3M
Amazon Smile Foundation
American Transmission Company
Associated Industries for the Blind
AW Asmuth Family Fund
Bader Philanthropies, Inc
Badger Meter Foundation Inc.
Bartolotta Catering
Becher Development
Belleville Boot Company
Bellile Family Trust
Boerke Company
Bostik, Inc
Bradley Impact Fund
Briggs & Stratton Corporation
Briggs & Stratton Foundation
Capital Investment Services of America
Chrysalis Packaging
City of Milwaukee CDBG
Cognex Corporation
Crown Mats
Cudahy Lions Club
Dawes Crane Rental
Dorothy Inbush Foundation
Dr Harry J Heeb Foundation
Duffy Grain
Essendant
Forest County Potawatomi Foundation
GE Foundation
GenMet
Green Bay Packers Foudnation
Harley Davidson Foundation
Kettle Moraine Lions Club
Hartford Lions Club
HD Supply
Helmut Wolfgang Schumann Foundation
Husch Blackwell LLP
Industries for the Blind Milwaukee
JayKay Foundation
Kimpton Journeyman Hotel
King Innovative LLC
Kohl’s Corporation
Legacy Capital Partners
Lions Clubs of Wisconsin
Marcus Hotels and Resorts
Margaret Wiegand Trust
Milwaukee Bucks
National Business Furniture
National Exchange Bank & Trust
National Industries for the Blind
Newburg Lions Club
Pabst Theater Group
Park Bank Foundation
Patrick and Anna M. Cudahy Fund
Public Service Commission of Wisconsin
Robertson Ryan & Associates
Saz’s Catering Inc
Silver Spring Golf Club
Stackner Family Foundation
The Gardner Foundation
The Greater Milwaukee Foundation
Thomas J Reinhart Foundation
Uline
Vision Forward Association
Walter Lindsay Foundation
Waukesha Lions Club
WE Energies Foundation
Wipfli