ABOUT THIS EPISODE
What happens when a successful employer partnership becomes the start of something much bigger?
In this episode of Manager Minute, Carol Pankow talks with Paul DiBello, Director of Business Services at Missouri Vocational Rehabilitation, about Missouri's Nexus network. What began with one collaborative group has grown to approximately 18 groups connecting VR, workforce and community partners, and businesses across the state.
Paul shares how regular meetings, employer involvement, "Nexus Mission Moments," and a one-team approach have helped sustain the work—and why employers who experience success often become VR's most powerful ambassadors.
During National Disability Employment Awareness Month, this episode celebrates the partnerships and practices that create meaningful employment opportunities and keep opening doors for people with disabilities.
Paul: The Nexus, it's really a collaboration of community partners and local businesses. We started, like I said, with one, and I think we're up to 18 different groups now.
Once you have that one success story with a candidate and business, it can really snowball into that business sharing nexus with other businesses. We've seen that where they call their friends at other businesses and say, hey, you've got to check this out. These folks have a talented pool of candidates or you can learn about resources.
I have to say, word of mouth is still a great marketing tool in this business.
Carol: That's good stuff.
Intro voice: Manager minute, brought to you by the Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center. Conversations powered by VR. One manager at a time, one minute at a time. Here is your host, Carol Pankow.
Carol: Well, welcome to the Manager Minute. Joining me in the studio today is Paul DiBello, Director of Business Services at Missouri Vocational Rehabilitation. How are things going in Missouri, Paul?
Paul: Things are going great, Carol. Thanks for asking.
Carol: Awesome. Good to have you. Well, October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, and this conversation offers a wonderful opportunity to recognize not only the contributions of workers with disabilities, but also the partnerships and practices that help create meaningful employment opportunities. And what makes today's story really interesting is that it began nearly a decade ago, back in 2017. Missouri VR shared with our old WINTAC grant how the agency was collaborating with workforce partners and employers to strengthen business engagement across the state. And so nine years later, my colleague Doug Keast circled back to see what happened, and he freaked out. He's like, Carol, you have got to call Paul. He's got to be on a podcast. And Doug had found that it wasn't simply that the work had continued, but it had expanded, it matured. It was even more deeply embedded in your system. And so today, Paul is joining to talk about how that collaboration grew and what helped to sustain it, and what the rest of you listeners can learn from this. So let's dig in.
So, Paul, can you tell our listeners a little bit about yourself and how you came into the VR world?
Paul: Sure. It's kind of a little bit of a curvy road for me, to be honest. My undergrad degree was in music education, and actually I was a high school band director for a couple of years, then followed my new wife out to Virginia. She got a job in her field, and we lived out there for a while, and I somehow got into accounting. So I went back to school and got an accounting degree and worked for a couple of fortune 500 companies out there over the course of about eight years, and then three kids and a dog and a cat later, we decided we lived too far from family. So we moved back to Missouri, closer to family and I ended up getting a job with the job center, actually with our WIOA title one Youth folks. So I started there and really fell in love with the work. I started there as a Youth Job developer in the Job Center, and then later became an assistant Youth Program Coordinator for all of our youth services within the 19 counties in central Missouri, under the Workforce Board there. And it was kind of it was at that time that I really started to get to know a little bit about VR services. I have to give a shout out to my good friend and Missouri VR coordinator programs doctor Elizabeth Perkins. I partnered with her back then. She was actually a VR counselor, and she would come into the job centers and work a day or two there, take customers there.
So we got to know each other real well. I learned more about VR. We started to partner on some things and it really opened, kind of opened my eyes to how awesome VR is. I'm just going to say it's different and I love all of our Workforce partners, but there's something special about VR counselors. So anyway, kind of fell in love with it then, but again, kind of a curvy path. My next stop, I worked as an EO officer for the central region. So I actually worked directly for the workforce board. And there I got to work on our state's non-discrimination plan and got to do some disability projects and stuff with partners. So a little bit closer to VR there. And then I was recruited as a actually a statewide job center provider for one of our WIOA program providers who also was a community rehabilitation provider. So even a little closer to VR, because I got to work on some contract management, and I was actually the assistant director of workforce programs for that company. So got to see both sides, the job center side and the CRP side. And then finally, in July of 2019, there was a VR job became open. And Elizabeth kind of encouraged me to apply for it. It was actually in procurement. So I started, then got to move into some case management stuff and then round about all the way back to business services where I started with WIOA. So that's where I am now.
Carol: Holy smokes, you did take a long and winding road with a stop off with an accounting degree. Like where did that come out of the blue?
Paul: Really weird.
Carol: I love it. We're gonna have to bring you over to our fiscal management community of practice.
Paul: Ok, that sounds fun.
Carol: Yeah. You're like, no, I got out of that. I don't want to do that. That's awesome. So I know you weren't in Missouri in 2017, actually at the VR agency, but you were doing things out and about. So what was Missouri trying to accomplish back then? If you could like, put on that view from way back through that collaborative business engagement?
Paul: Yeah. And I do remember even I wasn't with VR. I do remember how things were starting to come together back then. It was really just building partnership with WIOA partners. And it was through the development of a really a state level workforce system business committee, I guess you would call it didn't really have a formal name back then, but VR helped kind of host events with WIOA partners. And that's also where I got to know VR a little better, too, through some of that, to survey businesses together kind of as a team. And this eventually developed one of the very first lasting collaborative business and community engagement Nexus groups. And I think we're going to talk about Nexus here soon, but that was in the Kansas City area, and it consisted of monthly meetings that kind of brought community partners together with businesses to expand employment opportunities. And this would be for individuals with any barriers to employment. So it wasn't just focused on disabilities, but that was part of it. It was a great way to get all that collaboration with all of our state agency and partners. And then we really realized like, just so, you know, like the word nexus, we realized we wanted a system that was defined really by the very definition of the word nexus. And according to Merriam-Webster, nexus is a connection link or tie between people or things. It can also mean a central hub, or the core place where multiple parts of a system meet and come together. So that's really what we wanted for our state workforce system, just to have some really solid partnerships and where we were working together as a team. So that's kind of what was going on then.
Carol: I love that. So nine years later, you look at, okay, what's changed the most for you guys?
Paul: I would have to say, first of all, for VR, we've expanded our business team from, I think it was about three members. I'm not I wasn't there yet, but we have expanded to seven, which is huge for us. It gives us the ability to really get out across every region of the state and our VR business services team. It's really gained more clarity in our responsibility in terms of providing that menu of individualized and relevant services to meet those dual customer needs. So in essence, I think above all else, we've focused on being strategic connectors between VR, the workforce system, businesses, and then ultimately our dual customer, our clients as well.
Carol: I know talking to Doug, he said, in talking to other people, like you guys have been able to sustain and move this stuff along. Like you not only started it, but you've made this even better. That is not the case everywhere there have been starts and stops, and it almost seems like with WIOA, you know, people went in great gangbusters and then it kind of petered out in some places. But you've been able to really sustain and strengthen the work over time. What helped you guys to be able to do that?
Paul: Some of it was, I guess, probably trial and error, but definitely just continued development and expansion of these partnerships. Our blind agency Rehabilitation services for the blind. Our sister agency was a huge part of that too. And then really just working with the local Workforce boards and the Job Center staff, I know that it helps, you know, with our infrastructure agreements with the Workforce boards and making sure that because, you know, I don't always think of Missouri as I know some states are more of a one stop where people are actually under the same roof. We are not that, but we really do try to partner very closely. And those infrastructure agreements with Workforce really helped make sure there was a place for our counselors and our business folks to be under the same roof some days of the week and things like that. So I think that helped strengthen just partnerships in general. And then our employment Nexus groups, as they started to grow, just played a huge role in maintaining the partnerships. In a way, having these regularly monthly collaboration meetings have kind of built a mechanism for continued contact and communication. So I don't want to say it's forced, but it's there every month. Like we have these meetings every month and we're going to see these folks. And so we might as well work together. And it's just taken off in a really good way.
Carol: Well, since you keep bringing up Nexus, we might as well talk about that next.
Paul: Okay.
Carol: How does that Nexus model really work at the local level?
Paul: Nexus, it's really a collaboration of community partners and local businesses. We started, like I said, with one, and I think we're up to 18 different groups now. So we are very close to having all 114 counties in Missouri covered by at least one Nexus group, which I think is outstanding. And that's been our goal for the last few years to just really expand it and give opportunities for everyone in every county. Basically, there's a statewide planning committee, which is basically all of the local Nexus group planning committees, and we have a quarterly call and meeting. But as far as the local meetings go, there's a small planning committee and then there's a monthly meeting schedule and it's always it's the same time, same day every month. A typical agenda. It's open to all. We really try to invite an employer or a partner to do somewhat of a formal presentation, you know, on what they have to offer. And then there's usually an open forum where people can ask questions, and then we invite as many businesses as we can to join as well. And then there'll be time for networking and also time for those businesses to report out and tell us what they need.
What are they seeing on the ground? What kind of candidates are they looking for? What kind of problems are they having that we might be able to solve? And then a real big part of those meetings are what we call Nexus Mission Moments. We actually establish a time toward the end of the meeting where people can kind of report out, like how Nexus has helped them. And it could just be a connection, it could be a connection to a candidate or maybe an existing employer with its existing employees that found out about a program that can help their employees. And those are the best. Because when you have a new partner or a new employer on the call or in the room, they hear that. And then it's kind of like, okay, what's in it for me? Well, that might be in it for me. So all of those things together have really that makes up what a Nexus meeting is. And we've just been able to, to keep the movement going. And every month we do them. So it's good.
Carol: Well, I'm sure that your states, like other states where you have different sectors and different regions, like every state is different. You know, you have different parts that maybe there's more manufacturing or you might have more other kind of agricultural industry or whatever's going on depending on the quadrant of the state. And so I'm just thinking about those employer needs that are in those different areas. How do those employers in those specific regions really help shape the work of the Nexus team? Are they intricately involved? I know you've alluded to some of this, but is there something really direct that they do?
Paul: Yeah. well, I can say in a few of our groups They are on the planning committees, which is great. Mercy Health and Saint Louis is a huge partner with VR and they're a great inclusive hiring partner. But yeah, they're actually on the planning committees and bring other employers with them. So that's good. And then as far as the regions, yeah, sometimes we can specialize a little bit if we're in a more rural area or an area where there's a lot of manufacturing, then we're going to be able to bring those employers into the fold and show them that, you know, we do have a talented pool of candidates that can help them. Yeah.
Carol: I like it, I like it. So how is this collaboration expanded opportunities for people with disabilities?
Paul: Well, I think it's created great partnerships with employers first of all. And we at VR, we might have otherwise overlooked some of those employers, to be honest, that show up for these meetings. We also at the same time, we're connecting our agency to other area partners that have complementary services, which can also help our clients. We've been able to set up company tours for entire Nexus groups, which has been awesome. You know, a company will actually invite the whole Nexus group to. Maybe we might even meet on their campus, get a tour. Learn more about a business. That way we can come back to our vocational rehabilitation counselors and clients and tell them about that. And then in some cases, we've learned about like new resources available by some local area community agencies, like community action agencies and things like that that can directly also help our clients. Nexus groups, they've partnered together to hold reverse job fairs and other events. So that's becoming a kind of a big thing. And we call them talent showcases in Missouri. But probably most importantly, I think VR has had the opportunity to educate our partners and employers just on the advantages of hiring from a talent pool of qualified individuals with disabilities. It's just a bigger audience. So it's been great.
Carol: So what kind of results or changes tell you that this approach is working for you.
Paul: I think anecdotally, repeat business customers as well as new business customers in attendance at our Nexus meetings in general, to me, is a huge indicator that we've made progress with relationships and partnerships. The ability to have a single point of contact within Nexus also is really big. If that works best for an employer and they've requested that we can do that within a Nexus group itself, so business can come to a Nexus meeting and basically learn all the ways our wioa partners can serve them, you know, at one meeting sometimes. Most importantly, I think we've gained access to businesses that we know are interested in our candidate pools because they return. And I can say beyond anecdotally, our employer services have increased, you know, that we would record as a direct result of attending Nexus groups and making these newfound partnerships. And I can also say, once you have that one success story with a candidate and business, it can really snowball into that business sharing nexus with other businesses. We've seen that where they call their friends at other businesses and say, hey, you've got to check this out. These folks have a talented pool of candidates, or you can learn about resources, all the things. So I have to say, word of mouth is still a great marketing tool in this business.
Carol: That's good stuff. So what advice would you give another VR agency that would like to build this kind of network? I know folks have struggled like there's been this starts and stops or they're all in and then it all like kind of peters out. What advice do you have for folks?
Paul: I think really building a solid foundation with your community partners and other agencies is paramount. If you start a group like Nexus or that kind of a working group with some of our Nexus groups, we had more than one initial planning meeting for networking and just to really get to know our agency partners and how they serve customers and just really get to know each other intimately before we even invite businesses to the meetings. I just think it really helps to start with like a genuine partnership where you leave like any territorial issues at the door, so to speak, and just present the group as a united team that's just simply there to serve the needs of employers without worrying about who gets the credit. It just needs it really needs to be a one team approach. And that's what's I think worked for us and kept employers coming back. I think they do recognize that.
Carol: I like it. Well, and it feels like to Missouri's Workforce system is really cohesive, you know, and I'm sure looking at the role that you all are playing as part of that big network. What do you think that looks like today, maybe compared to before? Like, as you've grown this over the years, that leadership role that Missouri's taken in the Workforce system?
Paul: Hmm. I think, uh, are you saying Missouri or VR?
Carol: I'm talking about Missouri VR within the bigger Workforce system. Because I know you all seem to drive a lot of things that are going on down there.
Paul: Yeah, I think just the growth of our Nexus groups in particular, VR can take some credit for that, for sure. And that was part of that was expanding our business services team. But we've really, really made that a priority for ourselves and our partners.
Carol: And I'm sure Chris Claus, your director, who is like amazingly astute and thoughtful and loves partnering, has been a big champion for all the work that you're doing.
Paul: He has been a huge champion for sure. Yeah, absolutely.
Carol: Well, as we recognize National Disability Employment Awareness Month, what do you hope employers and workforce professionals take away from Missouri story?
Paul: I will say for us, partnership has been just the key to success in Missouri. Don't take your WIOA and other community partners for granted. Together as a team, honestly, we've learned so much from each other and once our partners understand the way we can help our clients with disabilities and get to share in some of the successes, they really only want to contribute more. And I think that goes for our partners and our employer, partners and businesses.
Carol: Good stuff. Paul, Missouri story reminds us that meaningful disability employment, it's not created through just one event, one program, or one agency working alone. It really grows through those relationships that are built locally, supported statewide and sustained over time. And you all have done a bang up job. I really appreciate having you on today. Thanks so much.
Paul: Thank you.
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