Creating Opportunity in the Community

Article by: Caleb Struchtemeyer, Communications Specialist at Shaw Contract 

At the heart of Shaw Contract, we create products and solutions that positively impact both people and the planet. We understand that the decisions we make impact the world around us. We are singularly focused on being a positive force for change — creating opportunities to connect, uplift and learn from each other. 

Project SEARCH reflects this belief in creating opportunities that give everyone an equal footing in life. It demonstrates that when diverse perspectives are valued, everyone thrives. 

In 2012, Shaw Industries in Dalton, Georgia, partnered with CrossPlains Community Partner, a private non-profit agency, supports and serves men and women with developmental disabilities and their families in Northwest Georgia, to develop an internship program through the Project SEARCH. At the time, Shaw Industries became the first manufacturing business to successfully partner with Project SEARCH. Since 2012, there have been 49 interns that have graduated from the program.

In 2023 Shaw Industries in Cartersville, GA partnered with Bartow Center for Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities (BCIDD) to start a Cartersville Project Search program. They hosted six Project SEARCH interns across marketing, manufacturing, and other departments. During their 10-month internship, each intern will complete three job rotations at different job sites in Cartersville, Ga., the home of Shaw Contract, interns showed growth, innovation, and a deeper understanding of the needs of our customers and communities. In the first year, 100% of the Cartersville interns achieved permanent employment positions in businesses in the community.

Empowering Diverse Interns Through Project SEARCH

“Being a part of Shaw, we’ve always stretched our people to do better and to grow and to become better at their jobs and in their personal lives. So, when we introduced Project Search, a lot of our mentors didn’t know what they were getting themselves into,” Shaw Contract Training and Enablement Manager Kimberly Morgan said. “Our job site trainers and instructors from Project SEARCH helped us work through how to adapt for different jobs.”

In addition to job experience, interns also took professional development courses during the afternoons. Interns learned a variety of skills and topics from filling out a job application and creating a resume to financial literacy and self-advocacy.

“Self-advocacy is our biggest thing,” Bartow Center for Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities Skills Trainer Lisa McEntire said. “Advocate for yourself. That's the biggest thing that we start from the very beginning.”

The ages of the interns range from 21 to 57, with many coming from sheltered workshops or day programs. With Project SEARCH, they are learning new skills daily. “Often times, they were not being challenged at all, and now they're out in the workplace,” McEntire said. “Our interns learning, ‘I am capable. I have a purpose. I'm confident to be able to do these tasks.’ You come in here and you see the ‘aha’ moments all the time.”

The Transformative Power of Belief

One of the interns, Edgar Victoria, was assigned a rotation at Shaw Contract, assisting across commercial marketing and design. Shaw Contract customers may recognize some of Edgar's tremendous contributions over the past year. His projects include preparing customer gifts, tradeshow invitations and specialty product packages. 

He organized and shipped event materials and created marketing and sales kits, streamlining materials for team use. If you've attended a Shaw Contract tradeshow or enjoyed a product presentation, chances are Edgar assisted with these projects.

“When he first started, he whispered, and I hardly understood him,” Carol Smith, Edgar’s mentor and coordinator at Shaw Contract. “And so now he's really come out of his shell. We love having him here.”

Beyond his assigned tasks, Edgar designed a fundraising shirt to support his class’s graduation party and delivered a speech at graduation—showcasing personal growth and leadership.

Following their nine-month internship, the participants graduate from the program and hope to receive a job offer. In 2024, Shaw Contract’s Project SEARCH interns had a 100% success rate of being hired. Two interns gained full-time positions on the Create Centre Campus, the commercial headquarters of Shaw Contract, one intern received a position at a local movie theater and the rest were hired by a golf resort in Northwest Georgia.

Edgar was one of the interns at the Create Centre to receive a job offer to work in the mailroom and is still pushing himself to learn. 

“He's learned new things. When another coworker was out for the day, Edgar pulled all the marketing orders, packaged them by himself and printed the shipping labels,” Smith said. “He did everything by himself.”

Project SEARCH interns are not only receiving valuable skills to allow them to receive a job offer but also receiving self-confidence. “There's no better feeling that we have than getting to be the vessels to serve these individuals and get to teach them and tell them every day about how amazing they are,” McEntire said. “Some of the interns come in with low self-esteem, and they have that feeling because people have told them all their lives, ‘You have the disability; you can't do this.’ And we're coming in and saying that doesn't work anymore. You are worthy.”

What is Project SEARCH? 

Project SEARCH began at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in 1996. Initiated by the hospital’s then Emergency Department Director Erin Riehle, she recognized the need for employment opportunities for individuals with developmental disabilities and sought to train them for entry-level positions in her department.

Partnering with Susie Rutkowski, the special education director at Great Oaks Career Campuses in Cincinnati, Ohio, they launched Project SEARCH. Since its founding, the program has expanded to an international network of over 400 sites with one focus: securing competitive employment for young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Today, Project SEARCH is a collaborative initiative involving businesses, educational institutions, vocational rehabilitation services, developmental disability organizations and supported employment agencies. By collaborating, these partners can better coordinate services for individuals and smoothly transition them to employment.

Project SEARCH has three main goals for their participants: train, employ and support. Each Project SEARCH intern participates in three internships, each 10 to 12 weeks, to gain competitive and transferable skills to prepare them for positions at the host business or within the community. They also learn essential communication, teamwork and problem-solving skills to contribute to their overall growth as young workers.