PBA Industries, our manufacturing division, hosted state lawmakers and business leaders, for an open house and a tour of its North Side manufacturing facility. For more than 100 years, PBA Industries has provided meaningful employment and training opportunities for people who are blind in the Pittsburgh community.

PBA Industries is one of 91 nonprofit agencies associated with National Industries for the Blind (NIB) that produces SKILCRAFT® products and provides services for federal and military customers through the AbilityOne® Program. NIB and its associated agencies serve as the largest employer of people who are blind in the United States, employing nearly 6,000 people who are blind.

NIB and PBA Industries’ efforts are more important than ever, because 70 percent of working-age Americans who are blind are not employed. This year marks NIB’s 75th anniversary, and NIB continues to focus on changing the perceptions of what people who are blind are capable of in order to create employment opportunities for the thousands of Americans who still need them.

State Sen. Matt Smith and BVRS President Erika Arbogast.

State Sen. Jay Costa and PBA Industries Director Tara Zimmerman.