CREST HAVEN — Every year millions of beach tags are sold throughout the state as a source of municipal funding for shore restoration projects.
However, few may know that beach tag production serves as a valuable employment-training asset for disabled county residents who have barriers in finding jobs; particularly, in a county with the highest unemployment rate in the state and minimal year-round population.
Jersey Cape Diagnostic Training and Opportunity Center, Inc. prepares disabled people for jobs through its production of beach tags and other assembly-line work with items like refurbished remote controls.
A private non-profit organization established in January 1974, the center began with a suggestion by Carroll Willson, Frances Goetz and Roy Gillian, current president of the Board of Directors, among interested citizens who wanted to help local people with disabilities find jobs.
“It was the brainchild of local citizens, armed with research, who contacted the state,” Executive Director George Plewa said.
Now about 90 employees with physical, mental and vision impairment disabilities work each day.
From its “humble beginnings” at the Palermo Air Force Base in Upper Township, to its move to Crest Haven in 1978, Plewa has worked to get the center federal and state funding, which he said totals about $2 million annually.
Production Supervisor Ed Willson checks quality control ensuring tags are properly tracked and packaged.
Sea Isle City orders about 145,000 tags annually with 105 different types for weekly, seasonal and daily access, Willson said.
One box of 1,000 beach tags, with a retail value of $20 each, is worth about $20,000.
Creating about 3 million beach tags each year, Plewa said municipal tag production is the center’s “everyday work staple.”
The center has also done recyclable source-separation for the Cape May County Municipal Utilities Authority, press kit mailers for Atlantic City casinos and tags for hundreds of private pool and condo clients, some from out of state.
Plewa said the center was once the largest plastic tag manufacturer in the country.
In 1988, the center received Presidential Private Sector Initiative Award under President Ronald Reagan for being an example of how a private company can help a community.
Workers’ compensation depends on the amount of tags they can produce in an hour, based on average wages in the county. A worker may receive about 8 cents per tag; if they can make 100 tags per hour, they receive $8/hour.
“We sell our product competitively based on market value and service we provide,” Willson said.
When seeking bid contracts, the company doesn’t openly advertise that people with disabilities make its products.
The center doesn’t operate a group home. It offers day training programs and many workers use Cape May County Fare-Free Transportation from housing with the county Association of Retarded Citizens (ARC).
The center is part of Cape May County United Way and receives funding through the Department pf Labor and Workforce Development.
Plewa said 10 percent of its funding was recently cut in the 2009 state budget process and less funding would likely affect the centers ability to meet operating expenses.
The center offers work-related counseling services and a work/study program for high school students in the Special Services School District and for those who have left school or are at risk of dropping out.
A satellite office in Rio Grande networks with local businesses for job placement.
“It’s a stepping-stone to prepare them for a job elsewhere, but some belong here in extended employment programs,” Willson said.
“When I leave work at the end of the day, I feel like I’ve really done something positive.”
Contact Truluck at (609) 886-8600 ext. 24 or at: ltruluck@cmcherald.com.
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