The latest local news, weather and high school sports from the Heartland

KIRKSVILLE. MO. -- Business leaders met Friday to talk about how to make the community a better place for the disabled.

The Adair and Macon County Senate Bill or SB 40 Boards held a free lunch and presentations on how to bring more money and business through hiring people with disabilities at the Annex Building in Kirksville.

Business managers learned the incentives and programs available to employers who hire people with disabilities, tapping into a new market and customer base, and building a new public image.

Macon County SB 40 member Wendy Hays hopes this will help the disabled have more hope and confidence in themselves.

“People with disabilities can be an important part of the workforce here in the community.”  Said Hays. “Learning and education is what is all about to them. this will help them continue to learn and let them continue to strive.”

Hays also hopes this will help businesses grow..                                                                                  

‘That is certainly one of the outcomes we are hoping for. that if we reached out to one business today that hasn't hire anyone with disabilities and are maybe thinking about it. they learned something here and think that it can work their business. that is certainly the outcome we are hoping for.”

At the meeting, business leaders also learned about dispelling the myths and recognizing the real value of employees with disabilities.

SB 40 is a non-profit organization which fund services and supports the disabled.