CEO, Jim Kerlin
My father and step-father both served in WWII. They enlisted as Marines and risked their lives to protect freedom and help rescue the world from tyranny. I don’t aspire to be a hero. But, as I considered what they’d done I began to ask God, “What important thing can I do to give back?”
Nine years ago my oldest brother gave my then 10 year old son Jake a kidney transplant. Wow, what a special gift! Once again that little voice in my head said, “What can I do?” In his late sixties, Dad became blind due to effects of diabetes. Losing his sight took away his ability to work as a machinist. I saw blindness crush his spirit and eventually his will to live. What can I do?
Years later Mom got remarried. While advancing on Guam fifty-five years earlier, he was hit by a sniper’s bullet. He earned a Purple Heart but permanently lost his sight. What can I do? After the war my step-father was denied a job at a bank counting coins. Why? Because they found out he was blind. What can I do?
Wiscraft just celebrated its 106th anniversary. This long history is at once heartening and distressing. Heartening as Wiscraft has reinvented itself several times and stood the test of time. Distressing because even as our nation is legitimately outraged by a 10% unemployment rate, 70% of Americans who are visually impaired or blind have no employment. This should be a national embarrassment. What can I do?
God answered my prayer of, “what can I do?” when he introduced me to Wiscraft. When I joined about 2 ½ years ago the company was struggling. Its CEO had to leave due to illness. This, and significant market shifts, at best, left the company in survival mode. I love sailing, so I’ll use sailing analogies to describe the situation. Wiscraft was like a ship adrift in stormy seas with no rudder and no direction.
I constantly remind myself that I’m just the guy at the helm. To make headway toward our mission, I needed to make some “crew” changes to strengthen the business acumen of the leadership team. Due to the combined efforts of many hard working people on the staff, we are sailing again. We’ve adjusted our compass setting by completing a comprehensive strategic plan. We invested in new technology like three-dimensional lasers, computers with screen reader software, and a CNC machining center that can talk. These tools allow people who are visually impaired or blind to navigate tasks that were previously impossible for them.
In August we opened a Communications Center offering inbound and outbound customer service. This new business unit charts a new course to create professional “white collar” opportunities to people who are visually impaired or blind.
Perhaps you’re asking yourself, “What can I do?” PLEASE JOIN OUR CAUSE. We’ll turn your donations directly into enabling more jobs for people who are visually impaired or blind. If you are a decision maker at your company, consider outsourcing your assembly, packaging, machining or call center needs to Wiscraft.
Please inform your friends about our mission and capabilities. Perhaps you know someone who can help us. Pass this newsletter along to them, or, better yet, give us their e-mail address so we can send them future newsletters. No matter how you contribute, you’ll find purpose in helping people who are blind obtain meaningful work and independence. You can help give them dignity through the opportunity to be proud supporters of themselves, their families and society. You can do something important…and you’ll feel great about it.