Cardboard boxes on conveyor belt in a distribution warehouse.
Federal procurement with a diversity mandate aimed at assisting manufacturers with a high proportion of disabled employees received a significant boost earlier this month with the launch of the new AbilityOne storefront on Amazon Business.
AbilityOne is a federally administered program dating back to the 1930s and is one of the largest sources of employment in the United States for individuals who are blind or living with significant disabilities.
Under the administration of the U.S. AbilityOne Commission working alondside the program’s Authorised Agencies – National Industries for the Blind and SourceAmerica – approximately 500 non-profits provide products and services to the federal government at a fair market rate.
Thanks to mission-critical mandatory source of supply agreements with the government covering everything from office supplies, janitorial and sanitary products and medical supplies including PPE – some 40,000 people are employed under the AbilityOne umbrella.
In 2022, the program generated $2.1 billion in revenue primarily through its largest customer, the U.S. Department of Defense. In addition to physical products, the program also provides a range of services including facilities management, contact centers, warehousing and packaging services to name but a few.
High visibility
The new branded storefront on the tech and e-commerce giant’s business website will make AbilityOne products, particularly those sold under the National Industries for the Blind’s SKILCRAFT brand – more visible and easier to purchase than ever before.
This will be achieved through leveraging Amazon’s mega brand value and familiar customer interface with genuine hope of a positive bottom-line impact for AbilityOne vendors.
Government buyers maintain supply chain diversity commitments through Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 8.7 and the 1971 Javits-Wagner-O’Day Act – commonly abbreviated to the JWOD) Act.
Naturally, buyers will still be able to source AbilityOne products from other online retailers but now they will be identifiable through one singular portal, rather than dispersed across individual e-commerce sites and different retailers.
Moreover, as Amazon Business is a B2B operation – the storefront is also augmented by standard bulk procurement features aimed at streamlining the process such as guided buying – whereby procurement leads can automate permissions and approvals for staff teams.
Boosting the sales of AbilityOne vendors has the positive effect of pumping greater financial resources back into charitable concerns whilst creating cost-savings in welfare benefits for the American taxpayer too as retailers upscale their staffing levels.
Building for the future
Commenting on the new partnership, Mark Fox, Senior Manager of Federal Sales at Amazon Business said: “The AbilityOne storefront on Amazon Business makes the online procurement experience more convenient for government buyers by helping them meet their federal purchasing requirements with expanded AbilityOne and SKILCRAFT selection.
“Now government buyers have a storefront that’s intuitive with the easy-to-use interface the world has come to expect from Amazon. We are proud to work with National Industries for the Blind to provide a great experience to our government customers.”
Kevin Lynch, President and CEO of NIB added: “We’re pleased that our government customers can enjoy the convenience of Amazon Business when shopping for SKILCRAFT and AbilityOne products. We look forward to a productive partnership with Amazon to meet the evolving needs of government and support the employment of Americans who are blind or have significant disabilities.”
Disability employment initiatives have been around for many decades and have faced criticism in some quarters for being a siloed anachronism and prone to worker exploitation. The reality is, when done right, with all the legislative checks and balances – they represent a fantastic opportunity for workers who may have otherwise been excluded from the workforce to upskill and make a valuable economic contribution.
However, just because a model is traditional that doesn’t mean that opportunities for modernization should not be eagerly embraced. So, in partnering with an online retail giant, that will undoubtedly continue to shape all our futures – the future of AbilityOne should be that much more secure too.
