Bettaway Supply Chain Services promotes inclusion for employees with autism

A New Jersey supply chain company is making its workforce more inclusive by partnering with a local nonprofit to train people who have autism, providing them skills to become competitive job candidates.

Bettaway Supply Chain Services, based in South Plainfield, is entering its third year of partnering with We Make – Autism at Work, a nonprofit that helps people with autism or an intellectual or developmental disability develop vocational skills. The program’s success is an example of what can be achieved in an inclusive work environment, which leaders hope will be replicated in other companies.

John Vaccaro, Bettaway president, said the company has provided over 7,000 hours of work experience to participants, who completed tasks with over 99% accuracy and exceeded productivity goals.

The initiative is personal for Vaccaro, whose son Frankie, 26, has autism. When the coronavirus pandemic shuttered programs, including the one his son attended at the Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Services, Vaccaro opened up Bettaway to provide job training.

About 10 participants and seven program employees began using Bettaway as a training hub while they were not allowed to use the university facilities as a health precaution.

Christopher Manente, the executive director of the Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Services, credited Vaccaro and his company with keeping the program alive during the pandemic. The Vaccaro family were founding members of the center, which provides support programs geared toward making an independent life possible for adults with autism.