Career Pathways for Individuals with Disabilities Success Story. Austin McQuade Lands a Job at CDA.
Summary: Hear the exciting story of how Austin McQuade obtained his certification as a Manufacturing Technician and quickly found his dream job despite his disability.<br> <br> Show Notes For the Austin McQuade Story<br> Rick Sizemore is the Director of the Wilson Workforce and Rehabilitation Center Rick’s Contact info: rick.sizemore@wwrc.virginia.gov @rickwwrc 540-332-7214.<br> Anne Hudlow is the Director of the WWRC Foundation. Anne’s Contact info: annehudlow@comcast.net or WWRCF.org.<br> For more information on CDA-USA visit their website. <a href="http://cda-usa.com/">http://cda-usa.com/</a><br> Transcript<br> Begin Count Down: 4 3 2 1<br> This is the VR workforce studio inspiration, education, and affirmation at work the workforce and disability employment podcast from the Wilson Workforce and Rehabilitation Center, a division of the Virginia Department of Aging and Rehabilitation services. The VR Workforce Studio is published by our foundation at www.rcf.org and is available in iTunes and at vrworkforcestudio.com<br> You are listening to the VR Workforce Studio<br> Austin: Working hard so I can buy a house, have a nice future, have a family; just aiming for the stars really. They’re the best company I have worked for, they are very professional, they are very nice, and the company is like a big family honestly.<br> Rick: On today’s episode of the VR Workforce Studio, the courageous vocational rehabilitation story of Austin McQuade, and how the career pathways for individuals with disabilities lead him to a great job in the automated labeling industry. Hi, I’m Rick Sizemore; here with my co-host Anne Hudlow, who directs the Wilson Workforce and Rehabilitation Center Foundation, bringing you these courageous stories of Vocational Rehabilitation<br> Anne: From the Wilson Workforce and Rehabilitation Center, where Rick Sizemore has worked for over 30 years, helping individuals with disabilities prepare for employment.<br> Rick: We are celebrating the journeys of those brave and unstoppable individuals with disabilities, who show us all that they are willing to do whatever it takes to overcome the obstacles to independence and employment. And we’re taking a closer look at how Vocational Rehabilitation provides the supports and assistance needed for success in disability employment.<br> Anne: We also feature the professional rehabilitation counselors, who have dedicated their lives and careers, to helping individuals with disabilities, lead more productive and fulfilling lives while building up the workforce. Rick we are always excited to focus the spotlight on companies who hire individuals with disabilities.<br> Rick: Well Anne, today we are going to focus on CDA USA, they were incorporated in Richmond Virginia, back in 2012, from a sister company in France. They’ve been making high quality semi-automatic and automatic labelers, and fillers for over 20 years. Interesting. You go to their website, you can see all these machines, and find a little more about what they do. If you go to the website, you’ll see something else that we have been talking about on this podcast, and how it’s becoming a reality – manufacturing jobs. I am reading from the website right now, “we are currently looking for local sales representatives, and technicians, so if you would like to send us an app, you can Email us,” and it has the contact information. Which by the way; we will include in our show notes at VR-Workforce-Studio.com. Our guest today, Austin McQuade; did just that. He contacted CDA, and landed his dream job.<br> Anne: That’s right Rick, on today’s big inspiration showcase, a highly successful young man who is going to re-trace the steps from his disability, to landing a dream job through Vocational Rehabilitation. Austin McQuade gives us an up-close, and personal look at demands side, workforce driven training, stackable credentials, and how a hands-on learning model,
