Yesterday, the Future State Theater — an interactive educational area on the Expo show floor that showcased innovations and movements in decorated apparel — hosted the session Print Industry Unites on Disability Inclusion to discuss how the printing industry can improve disability inclusion. 

The session was led by Jed Seifert, co-founder, Stakes Manufacturing. Seifert said the goal of the panel was to walk the audience through the process of beginning their own journeys of inclusion. 

Over the course of the talk, Siefert and other panel members emphasized the use of disability employment providers and how companies can work with them not only to find the right employees, but also to be trained on how to work with an employee with a disability.

(L to R) Ross Hunter, CEO, ROQ US, and Jecka Glasman, chief commercial officer, Kornit Digital

“There’s a gap in the printing industry and a lot of it has to do with a lack of understanding of the model,” Seifert said. “What most people don’t know is that disability employment service providers will help you find, screen, train, and onboard employees as well as train managers, so it’s all about finding the right disability employment services provider and finding the right model for you.” 

Seifert was joined on stage by Jecka Glasman, chief commercial officer, Kornit Digital (Booth C7507); Taylor Landesman, VP, Lawson Screen & Digital Products (Booth C7630); Nabeel Amin, CEO, Lane Seven Apparel (Booth C9311); Ross Hunter, CEO, ROQ US (Booth C9707); and Ryan Moor, co-founder, Allmade Apparel (Booth C10410), and founder of Ryonet. They were joined by Jed’s brother Darren, who is disabled, and inspired Jed to start working with a disability employment solutions provider.

The session kicked off with an introduction from Darren, and over the course of the session, Jed asked the industry experts why disability inclusion is important to them, why their companies decided to get involved, and what impact or benefits they hope to see or have already seen.