Company hires overlooked workers to fulfill needed function
In the heart of Port Morris’ industrial area, one company operates by an unusual business model to help it succeed.
Although the company’s structure is not typical, it is making a difference for a number of Bronx residents some wrongly consider unemployable.
Shredability has been shredding confidential documents for its clients since 2011, and employing people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to do the work.
The company was established by AHRC New York City, a non-profit group that advocates for the developmentally disabled. The organization was launched over 60 years ago by a group of parents who were tired of hearing that their disabled children wouldn’t amount to anything.
“Secure document destruction happens to be a simple, straightforward business,” said Shredability’s associate director, Sal Moran.
After the company shreds the documents it’s given, it recycles them into paper towels and folders.
General manager Brian Simon said that security is the company’s top priority. When employees shred documents in their offices, he said, those slivers of information-containing paper often end up on the street, a risk his company doesn’t take.
Employees at the company have rarely been offered the chance to contribute to their community. They say that Shredability has changed the equation for them.
“I like to work, make my money, stay active and keep busy,” said employee David Garcia.
Christian Rodriguez said that he is proud to “just be a hard worker.”
Prior to working with the company, Garcia and Rodriguez didn’t have jobs and had limited chances of finding work or income of any kind.
Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., who visited the company in April, lauded the company’s strategy of hiring those others overlook.
“Shredability are the people to call” for both shredding sensitive documents and the opportunities for productive workers other employers ignore, Diaz said.
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