BELFAST, Maine — October is National Disability Employment Month and it celebrates the contributions made to our country's workforce by people with disabilities. A bank location in Maine is also working to hire people of varying abilities.
For more than 20 years, the Bank of America Support Services division in Belfast has employed people with developmental disabilities. There are currently 52 support service team members at the branch. The in-house operations just resumed last month after being shut down at the start of the pandemic.
Associates are able to get involved with graphic arts, letter mailing, manual assembly and distribution services. These employees receive the same pay and benefits that all other employees at the company receive. Brian King, Senior Vice President of Bank of America, said the company just raised their starting pay to $21 per hour, and plan to raise it to $25 per hour by 2025.
The location in Belfast is one of four Bank of America locations across the country that employs people of varying abilities.
"To have the diversity of thought, the diversity of experience, in every type of way of defining diversity, is what makes us stronger as a company," King said.
Geoffrey Guist has worked for the Bank of America in Belfast for the last nine years. He said was excited to get back to work after being stuck at home for a year and a half due to the pandemic.
"Some jobs they just look down on people with, 'Oh they can't do this' or 'The public doesn't want to see these kinds of people.' So it's nice that instead of just being swept under the rug, we can be side by side with people that might look normal," Guist said.