When Bosma Enterprises first adopted a new platform to manage its data, the company that provides training to the visually impaired did not see it as a job opportunity for some of the clients it helps.
But as Bosma employees learned how to use the Salesforce program, they realized it could serve as an employment bonanza for the visually impaired.
Still, it took a few years until Adam Rodenbeck a former Bosma employee wound up at the Salesforce mothership for BosmaForce training to commence. After first encountering Salesforce at Bosma, Rodenbeck, who is blind himself, became a certified Salesforce developer and eventually a Salesforce employee.
Throughout, he realized what a great credential Salesforce training could be especially for the visually impaired population, which has a 70 percent unemployment rate.
“I know that it worked well for me and…I knew if I could make it work, I could also help people get to that same point,” said Rodenbeck, now an accessibility specialist with Salesforce.
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Thanks to Rodenbeck, four other visually impaired individuals have just completed the first ever BosmaForce class and are now job-searching with a much-in-demand skill on their resumes.
Robert Taylor has been unemployed for the past three years after relocating to Indianapolis from California in search of a career change and a lower cost of living. Hoping to switch to a job in computer programming, Taylor enrolled in an intensive three-month long course.
But the class required him to stay late and Taylor, who has a genetic condition that leads to low vision, doesn’t drive in the dark. He searched for jobs but many of those he found in tech would have required him to drive from his near-westside home to Fishers, something he did not feel able to do.
When he heard about the Salesforce training from Bosma, he did not hesitate to enroll.
“I think the job prospects are there,” said Taylor, 66, who uses a magnified screen to help correct his vision impairment. “It’s a great opportunity…. They’re just leveraging the Internet.”
The class takes place in an Adobe Connect classroom, which allows for screen sharing if necessary. There’s a chatbox and if participants want, they can talk or mute themselves. The class meets every morning from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. for 18 weeks for a total of 320 hours of training.
Not only does the class prepare people for a job that may not require them to commute to work — a concern for some who are vision-impaired — students can take the course from anywhere in the country. One of the four students in the class lives in Illinois, another in Michigan City.
Amanda Taylor, 31, who has not been in the workforce since 2015 due to diabetic retinopathy, moved to Somerset, Kentucky during the course of the class but had no trouble logging in to class from her home. Recently she completed the course and had an internship lined up with a Brownsburg company that will allow her to work from home.
Although she had never worked in IT before, she found her passion through the class.
“I love it,” she said. “I just took off with it.”
Bosma hopes to increase class size to 10 to 15 students and offer the class nationally, said James Michaels, vice president of program services. The next class will start in early October.
The state of Indiana’s vocational rehabilitation program refers students to Bosma and covers the $2,000 monthly fee for the class. Before enrolling a student in the class, Bosma performs an assessment of his or her computer skills and ensures that they have access to necessary technology.
Any individual with a disability as well as veterans are eligible for the class, whether or not they are visually impaired, Michaels said.
Although the inaugural class has not yet hit the job market, Michaels is optimistic that they will find employment when they do as numerous companies now need Salesforce administrators.
“When we’re trying to develop training programs, we want to make sure that there are jobs at the end of it,” he said. “And it’s been proven that people who are blind can do these jobs.”
Adaptive technology, which allows people who are visually impaired to operate a computer, has leveled the playing field in that industry, said Lou Moneymaker, president and chief executive officer of Bosma Enterprises. Add remote work into the picture and people in the office may never even realize that the person on the other side of the computer exchange has limited vision.
While Bosma offers a range of training, including entry level jobs in packaging, the Salesforce course provides an opportunity for people to find better-paying employment. Salesforce administrators make an average salary of more than $88,000.
“We see the need for and the opportunity for people who are…
