Hiring people with a disability is not altruism, it is good business. And those businesses that hire people with disabilities find themselves at a competitive advantage and that advantage will only grow as the labor shortage worsens.
John and Mark X. Cronin, the co-founders of John’s Crazy Socks, recently made a guest appearance on Main Street News. Hosted by one of Long Island’s leading public figures, Eric Alexander, the program is produced by Vision Long Island. Eric interviews government, community and business leaders to shine a light on good things happening on Long Island.
This afternoon, John and Mark X. Cronin, co-founders of John’s Crazy Socks, spoke to staff and clients at the Pike County Development Center in Milford, Pennsylvania. The father-son entrepreneurs inspired the students and offered hope that there are jobs waiting for the students.
The best TED Talks challenge conventional thinking and move us to look at the world in a new way. John and Mark X. Cronin, the father-son team behind John’s Crazy Socks, rose to that challenge in their TEDx Talk entitled, Differently Abled People Want to Help Us. Their TEDx Talk offered a simple yet powerful idea: people with differing abilities are not waiting for our help as much as they are waiting to help us.
John Cronin, co-founder of John’s Crazy Socks, is a Special Olympic athlete who loves the Special Olympics. In starting his business, he pledged to give back to the Special Olympics. John and John’s Crazy Socks has now raised $106,557 for the Special Olympics and today they held an event to celebrate.
Liza Laurino-Siegal, a doctoral student at St. John’s University has published her dissertation which examined employers working with people with disabilities. She focused her research on two Long Island based companies: John’s Crazy Socks and Spectrum Design. The study documents the benefits of employing people with differing abilities.
New York State Assemblyman Jarett Gandolfo visited John’s Crazy Socks on Friday. The Assemblyman made the visit so he could understand more about what New York State can do to promote employment of people with differing abilities and to support small businesses like John’s Crazy Socks.
CongressmanAndrew R. Garbarino(R-NY-02)and Congressman Tom Suozzi(D-NY-03)introduced a Resolution supporting the designation of October as Down Syndrome Awareness Month and supporting the goals and ideals of Down Syndrome Awareness Month. The Congressmen announced the Resolution at a press conference this afternoon in honor of Down Syndrome Awareness outside the Capitol Building where they were joined by Long Island's own John Cronin and Mark X. Cronin, co-founders of John’sCrazy Socks.
We are excited to share that Congress has taken up bi-partisan legislation that will allow employers to extend the same benefits to people with differing abilities that they offer to all other employees.
