<p>In today&#39;s episode, host Matt Horine interviews Tom Welge, CEO of Gilster-Mary Lee, and Troy Compardo, CEO of the Boone Center, about workforce innovation through employing people with disabilities and neurodiverse individuals. Welch shares Gilster-Mary Lee’s evolution as a long-standing private label food manufacturer and how labor shortages drove efforts starting in 2019 to recruit and support employees with autism through manager training, better job definition, and role matching, resulting in 21 neurodiverse employees and strong retention and culture benefits. Codo explains Boone Center’s mission since 1959, its pivot to contract packaging, and current operations employing 185 adults with developmental disabilities, plus community placements and job coaching. They describe a partnership sparked by a need for e-commerce fulfillment and discuss misconceptions, scalable practices, and future goals including broader adoption, career advancement, and addressing transportation barriers.</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Timestamps</strong></p><p>00:00 Welcome and Theme</p><p>01:14 Meet Tom Welge</p><p>02:17 Labor Challenges at Gilster</p><p>02:59 Meet Troy Compardo</p><p>04:43 Boone Center Mission</p><p>06:31 Gilster Food Manufacturing</p><p>08:22 Partnership Origin Story</p><p>11:54 Building Inclusive Jobs</p><p>14:47 Myths and Retention Wins</p><p>16:50 Systems That Sustain</p><p>19:04 Scaling the Model Nationwide</p><p>23:06 Five Year Vision</p><p>28:20 Where to Learn More</p><p>29:50 Closing Takeaways</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Links</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-welge-1b258215/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">⁠Tom on LinkedIn⁠</a></p><p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/troycompardo/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">⁠Troy on LinkedIn⁠</a></p><p><a href="https://gilstermarylee.com/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">⁠Gilster Mary Lee⁠</a></p><p><a href="https://boonecenter.com/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">⁠Boone Center⁠</a></p><p><a href="https://sustainment.com/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠</a><a href="https://www.veryableops.com/navigating-trump-2-0" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Navigating Trump 2.0 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠</a></p><p><a href="https://www.veryableops.com" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Revitalizing US Manufacturing⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠</a></p><p><a href="https://company.veryableops.com/create-profile" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign Up on the Veryable Platform ⁠⁠</a></p><p><br></p>