The Oneonta Bagel Company is highlighting members of its workforce as part of October’s National Disabilities Employment Awareness Month.
Operating since 1989, the bagel shop, 171 Main St. in Oneonta, is owned and operated by Rehabilitation Support Services. RSS hires local people with various disabilities as a part its vocational work program.
RSS vocational services program coordinator Shari Stallone said Friday, Oct. 18 that the bagel shop’s workers are looking to enter or return to the workforce it and be independent, but may have disabilities.
“They want to make their own income,” Stallone said. “Some that we have hired here learn skills and move onto other jobs, like we have had some work in health care, Walmart, different stores, and some just decide to stay here.”
The bagel shop currently has two employees in the RSS program working at the bagel shop.
“I love it here,” Tracy Grant, who works the bagel counter and register, said Friday. “I like the customers and being around people, and I’ve been here for at least two years, but I have back issues and have been diagnosed as bipolar. If I am feeling overwhelmed here, I can tell my manager, and I can go and sit down and calm down.”
The bagel shop has picked up more customers since the Market Street construction started, manager Ackamme Thomas said.
“We are open from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. and it gets really busy in the morning and often on Saturdays, but my team knows what they are doing,” he said. “I don’t have to manage them a lot once they are trained.”
Part of what the bagel shop tries to offer through the RSS program is a healthy employment opportunity and social support towards making people feel better about themselves, Stallone said.
Danny Kelsey is a grill cook and sandwich maker who has worked at OBC on and off for the past 20 years.
“I like it here and know what to make,” Kelsey said. “I can make all sorts of orders fast, even the new menu items.”
“There are 12 people who work here, but Tracy and Danny are part of our support services program,” said Amanda Stamas, vocational services program coordinator for RSS in Otsego and Chenango counties. “Tracy knows so many of the customers and what they want to order and will ask if they want the usual.”
Thomas said that his staff listens to what people are asking for, and they often have a competition to create new menu items and see which ones do the best.
“We really are the best in town for bagels,” Thomas said. “We have fun and serve a lot of great food for people who have been coming here for a long time, but even the new construction workers.”
The bagel shop is an example of RSS’s affirmative employment model, which provides opportunities with people with disabilities, Stallone said.
“We want people to know that these workers, and probably many more like them, are a staple of our community,” Stallone said. “Not many people know when they come in to get a bagel, but programs like this show that workplace programs can be a part of the fabric of the community, which benefits everyone.”