Josh Rodebach, a business relations specialist with the Utah Office of Rehabilitation, used the webinar to walk employers through business-facing services, outreach networks and practical tools to recruit and onboard people with disabilities. "If you are an employer...we can definitely connect you with business partners who have worked with people with disabilities," Rodebach said.

Rodebach reviewed the ADA definition of disability and cautioned against making assumptions about individuals based on appearance or status. He cited national and Utah statistics to underline the scale of need: roughly 64,000,000 Americans have disabilities (about one in four) and, he said, Utah has about 340,000 people with disabilities with a variety of functional categories.

On services for employers, Rodebach described the Business Relations and Choose to Work teams: Business Relations offers one-on-one consultation, accommodation assistance and event coordination; Choose to Work specialists provide minimal job-development supports (resumes, application help and interview prep) but do not provide on-site supports (those are job coaches' role). He urged employers to use the PWDNet partnership and the pwdnetjobsutah.gov listserv to share job openings and to add "pwdnet" tags on jobs.utah.gov so that job-seekers and job coaches can find inclusive postings.

Rodebach also highlighted employer supports such as regional employer workshops (March and September), job fairs (April and October), the Utah Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities network, and the Golden Key Awards that recognize employers who demonstrate inclusive hiring practices. He pointed attendees to the Job Accommodation Network for technical accommodation guidance and urged businesses to reach out directly to Business Relations for case-specific consultation.

Rodebach closed by noting upcoming events and a follow-up webinar about natural supports, and presenters invited attendees to complete a QR-code survey and said slide decks and recordings will be provided to registrants.