About AbilityOne
What is AbilityOne?
The AbilityOne program promotes independence to thousands of individuals who are blind or who have other severe disabilities by assisting them find employment. Formerly Javits-Wagner-O´Day (JWOD), the AbilityOne program coordinates its activities with non-profit organizations across the country to employ these individuals and provide goods and services to the federal government at a fair market price. These products and services are added to a federal procurement list as a preferred source of supply for government customers.
The AbilityOne program is administered by an independent government agency called the Committee for Purchase from People who are Blind or Severely Disabled (The Committee). Two central non-profit organizations have been authorized by the Committee to assist in the daily administration of the program, National Industries for the Blind (NIB) coordinates the activities of non-profit organizations that employ people who are blind while NISH coordinates the activities of non-profit organizations that employ people with severe disabilities.
The AbilityOne program employs more than 40,000 people who are blind or have other severe disabilities. This makes the AbilityOne program the largest source of employment for people who have severe disabilities in the country. In addition to being the nation's top employer of people with severe disabilities, the AbilityOne program operates at nearly 1,000 locations nationwide and represents 40 governmental agencies.
AbilityOne vs Skilcraft
AbilityOne is the name of the federal purchasing program that enables disabled Americans to work by manufacturing products and providing services to federal customers. Skilcraft is a trade name owned by NIB used to identify products and services provided by disabled Americans Products bearing the Skilcraft brand are commonly used in US Government institutions such as the USPS, military branches and government agencies.
Today, the Skilcraft name encompasses more than 3,000 products including office supplies, janitorial equipment, uniforms, and hospital supplies.Skilcraft also provides services, such as call centers, and logistics services on a contract basis to government agencies. Participating non-profit organizations have been authorized by NIB to utilize the SKILCRAFT brand name for products produced by disabled Americans but are not part of the AbilityOne program. These products are often marketed locally in the community or to the non-profit agency´s state government.
AbilityOne Base Supply Centers
AbilityOne Base Supply Centers (BSCs) harness the collective resources of a nationwide network of providers to supply superior products and services to government customers through a commercial retail-type setting. . The BSCs serve the federal customer by offering one-stop shopping, flexible inventory, on-base security with cleared staff, 24x7 availability, more than 500,000 items available to order, multiple ordering and delivery options and cost-effective solutions. LCI is proud to be a part of the BSC family where we have 31 BSC locations across the United States.
Since the launch of the first BSC in 1995, government customers have appreciated convenient access to thousands of high-quality, competitively priced SKILCRAFT® and other name brand products as well as Hazmat, IEE and other services.
BSCs partner with the leadership at their host location to satisfy the specific needs of base and installation personnel. Today, BSCs are located on more than 140 federal installations nationwide. AbilityOne Base Supply Centers offer a wide range of SKILCRAFT® and other AbilityOne office and janitorial/cleaning supplies and more. When purchasing from BSCs, government customers support the employment of qualified professionals who are blind or have other severe disabilities. SKILCRAFT is the brand of choice and the AbilityOne Program is the preferred source for federal purchasers worldwide. Please join us in breaking down job barriers by supporting this dedicated workforce
Go Green with AbilityOne
The AbilityOne Program strives to add the latest in environmentally preferable products to the Procurement List. As a participating nonprofit agency, we have proven our commitment to meeting the needs of federal customers by seeking alternative methods and materials with which to produce the items you need most and by re-engineering pre-existing environmentally preferable products to make them even better. AbilityOne environmentally preferable products carry the new AbilityOne environmental logo, making them easy to identify in print and online catalogs.
AbilityOne Resources
AbilityOne Government Resource - AbilityOne.gov
AbilityOne History and Program Information - AbilityOne.org
National Industries for the Blind Resource - NIB.org
AbilityOne Employment Opportunities - www.lcindustries.com/careers/
BUYLCI.com AbilityOne Products - Product Search
AbilityOne Informational Video - Click Here
