Skills of Central PA Inc

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Baily, Olinyk Recognized for 20 Years of Service at Giant Eagle

Twenty years ago, Becky Baily and David Olinyk obtained their jobs with Giant Eagle in Altoona through Skills Employment Services program.
David Olinyk with management and staff from the Giant Eagle Commemorative Scrapbook.
Giant Eagle management and staff celebrated Baily’s and Olinyk’s achievements by holding a luncheon in their honor at Leena’s Café on July 30th with their families. Each received a keepsake clock engraved with their name and 20 Years of Service.
“When Becky and David first started working at Giant Eagle, they would get belittled by some customers,” said Jason Grove, a Giant Eagle manager, who works with both Becky and David on a regular basis. “Over the last 20 years, our regular customers have grown fond of both Becky and David. People today are used to seeing workers with special needs.”
Congratulations to Becky Baily for reaching 20 Years of Service at Giant Eagle!
Olinyk greets everyone who comes through his line with a smile. “I love helping the customers,” says Olinyk, who is more than happy to assist customers with finding products or loading their groceries.
Although Baily tends to be shy, she is always eager to help customers with anything they need and communicates well with her coworkers and supervisors.
“David and Becky are like family — and their work is outstanding,” says Grove. Over the years Grove feels that David and Becky have adapted to changing times very well. Grove loves working with both Baily and Olinyk and adds, “I hope they’ll be here for another 20 years.”

Skills Honored with Waste Watcher Award from the Professional Recyclers of Pennsylvania

Mark Mehall presents Mike Rice, Skills President/CEO, and Skills workers with the PROP Waste Watchers Award.

Pictured L to R: Mark Mehall, Mike Rice, Randy, Kim, Annette Gunyuzlu, Amy, Karen Weyant, and Heidi.
On August 23rd, Skills of Central PA, Inc. (Skills) received The Waste Watchers Award from Professional Recyclers of Pennsylvania (PROP). Mark Mehall, executive director of PROP, presented the Skills recycling facility in Port Royal with the award.
Skills began its computer recycling program in 2005 and obtained its DEP permit in 2008.
While many organizations offer drop-off locations for computer recycling, few have DEP permits to process them. Skills processes all donated electronics at its vocational training center in Juniata County.
Behind-the-scenes of Skills computer recycling program: Karen Weyant, Nancy Parsons, Denise Hahn, Sam Swietzer, and Deb Palm.
Virtually all components of the computers and electronic materials Skills collects are dismantled and recycled. The component parts are then shipped to responsible recyclers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey where they are either refurbished and reused or broken down for scrap metal and plastics.
“Skills is very excited to be recognized with this award,” said David M. (Mike) Rice, Ph.D., president and CEO, Skills. “We want everyone to know that Skills computer recycling program not only keeps computers out of landfills, it provides individuals with developmental disabilities with an opportunity to learn valuable employment and pre-employment skills — while earning a paycheck.”
This was no small feat. “Located in rural Juniata County, opportunities to find sustainable paying assembly work for the individuals we serve was proving to be a challenge,” recalls Annette Gunyuzlu. “Then in 2004, I came across a short EPA fact sheet that predicted 130 million computers would become obsolete and begin to flood landfills across the U.S. by 2005. By changing the focus to disassembly, we crunched the numbers and realized that even the tiniest percentage of this predicted market could keep the shop filled with obsolete material for a good while. It’s a win for the individuals we serve, our community and the environment.”
Visit Skills Computer Recycling Service pages for more information about this program including donation drop-off locations and times.

Skills Willowbank Café provides healthy lunches for Centre County employees.
With the support of the Centre County Commissioners and the wellness committee for Centre County Employees, Skills opened a café in the Willowbank Building in Bellefonte.
The Willowbank Café offers healthy menu selections including salads, soups, fruit cups and yogurt.
With the opening of the Café, Skills was able to hire two members from Opportunity Centre Clubhouse as permanent team members. A third position, through Skills Transitional Employment Placement (TEP) program, gives individuals the opportunity to try types of work and receive training in a safe, nonthreatening environment before seeking competitive employment.
This endeavor would not have been possible without equipment donated by Sheetz, Inc. and the help of U.S. Foods.
Sheetz donated industrial freezers, refrigerators, a three-compartment sink, soup warmers, and cabinets with a countertop.
U.S. Foods provided free training for staff on portioning, food preparation, and food presentation. Willowbank Café staff also learned about sanitation, hand washing, and customer service.
Thank you to everyone who helped Skills with this new venture!

Skills PCO philosophy enabled Jerry Valimont to move into the country home he desired.
Over the last few decades our society began changing its thinking about people with disabilities and the way services are delivered to them. Our society started a transformation from a system dictating lives to one of individuals choosing their own lives.
In 1998, Skills adopted the Person Centered Thinking developed by experts Michael Smull, Bill Allen, and Mary Lou Bourne. Over this past year, all Skills staff in Blair County as well as all executive staff came together for training on becoming a Person Centered Organization (PCO). Skills staff members attended monthly meetings and underwent training to be coaches. Coaches help teams for individuals find out what each individual really likes and wants in their life then help guide teams to make decisions based on the individual’s choices.
Skills goal is to become a PCO, initially in Blair County, and to improve the lives of the people we serve whether in residential or day programs. Skills mission has always been to enhance the lives of the people we serve and give them every opportunity we can. Now Skills is taking it one step further — having the people we serve be the authors of their own lives. This is not an easy step to take; state regulations, doctors, hospitals and other agencies need to be on board with this philosophy.
To accomplish this goal, Skills included training opportunities for county support coordinators and state representatives from the Office of Developmental Programs. Skills is offering this training to other counties. In November 2009, Skills held a two-day training in State College (Centre County) for Skills employees and county support coordinators about this philosophy. The journey to becoming a person centered organization is underway, thanks to Blair County, and spreading throughout the agency. Skills goal is eventually to become a PCO throughout all of our 17 counties.

Environmentally Friendly Place Mats
Improvements to the place mat cutter by Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) triples productivity.
Skills of Central PA, Inc. has been making place mats out of recycled, biodegradable paper for over 10 years. The Deli, a restaurant in downtown State College, has been a loyal supporter of this project by purchasing Skills recycled place mats. Hotel State College also uses Skills recycled place mats in Bill Pickles Tap Room Restaurant & Bar. This project is both good for our environment and supports individuals with disabilities by providing valuable work.
Jay Shawley cuts place mats from recycled paper at Skills.
Individuals who attend WOSKOB Vocational Training Services in Centre County earn a paycheck to make the place mats. Until now, client-workers had been using a home-made cutting contraption that could only cut two place mats at a time.
Thanks to Penn State University Students and the Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS), Skills now has a newly refurbished place mat cutter that can produce six place mats at a time — tripling production with one cut! Tim Wheeler, research assistant for the Department of Electrical Engineering, is the program coordinator. Matt Cornwell, Penn State mechanical engineering student in the EPICS program, designed and built the new place mat cutter for Skills.
The EPICS program at Penn State gives engineering students the opportunity to use their developing skills for the community. Students put what they have learned into play to help agencies like Skills solve everyday problems, which in our case helped Skills increase production to better serve our customers.
Interested in purchasing Skills recycled place mats for your restaurant or business? If so, please call Gina Montgomery at 814-329-4026 for details.