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Welcome to Statler Center

Welcome to the National Statler Center for Careers in Hospitality Service (a program of the Olmsted Center for Sight). We are a unique and exciting concept in hospitality employment training that provides physically disabled individuals, and those who are blind or visually impaired, with the right tools for successful careers in a rapidly growing industry.

Please use the menu at the left to navigate through our web site. Alternatively, you may use the site map located via a link at the bottom of this page.

Interested in Working in Hospitality?
April 22, 2009 - Statler Hospitality begins in Buffalo, NY
May 18, 2009 - Statler Customer Service/Contact Center training begins in Buffalo, NY
For more information please contact: Jeff Hirschfelt at 716-888-4631

NEW CONTACT CENTER OPENS
The new Contact Center is now open with help from a very generous donation by AVAYA. The center is powered by the latest call center hardware and software created by AVAYA, the leader in business communications technology, and is aligned with the training conducted by the Statler Center, a program of the Olmsted Center for Sight.

Staffed in part by blind and visually impaired graduates of Olmsted’s Statler Center Program, the Contact Center offers a broad range of call center and business processing operations.

The AVAYA Contact Center is ready to discuss your next Contact Center project. Call Jeffrey Hirschfelt, Director, today to discuss how we will serve you. 716-888-4631.

29th STATLER GRADUATION
Our 29th Graduating Class was honored on March 13, 2009 in Buffalo.

Enrolled in our Statler Training and Employment Program (STEP), these students were extremely successful in their studies, and are well prepared to enter new careers. Their skills allow them proficiency in Contact Center, Customer Service, Hospitality, and related positions.

Congratulations to Amy H., who accepted a position with Bank of America the day before graduation!

Congratulations to graduates: Richard F., Brent H., Patricia B., Amy H., and Heather B.

STATLER CENTER WELCOMES NEWEST STAFF MEMBERS!

The Statler Center is proud to welcome the newest additions to our staff, Mr. Jeffrey Pease and Mr. Imtiaz Khan. Jeffrey Pease was welcomed to the Statler Center's staff on December 1, 2008 and Imtiaz Khan was welcomed to the Statler Center's staff on December 15, 2008.

Jeffrey Pease serves as Marketing Manager for the Olmsted Institute of Business and Technology, a New York State proprietary business school. In line with the Olmsted Center Mission to help individuals with visual impairments and those with other physical challenges to achieve their highest level of independence, Jeff will build awareness of the training opportunities for these individuals focusing on technology skills and job preparedness. Jeff will also open the doors for corporate and business employees, as well as private citizens seeking to learn or enhance their skills in the Microsoft Office suite, HTML, QuickBooks and related software applications used by most businesses and schools.

Mr. Imtiaz Khan has joined the Statler Center staff as the Call Center Manager on December 15, 2008. Mr. Khan comes to us most recently from the 2-1-1 Central Referral Service where he was employed in a training capacity. In addition to his many years as a trainer, he also has years of contact center experience.

THE LAVELLE FUND FOR THE BLIND AWARDS $422,740 TO THE STATLER CENTER

Statler Center was awarded $422,740 from Lavelle Fund for the Blind, Inc. This money will allow Statler Center to train and work with disabled people more strategically (as opposed to finding one job at a time).

In this model, job placement will actually be “front-loaded” through the development of corporate relationships with businesses that have shown commitment to hiring the disabled, have positions available, and are willing to partner in advance with Statler Center for training and job placement.

For example, a large airline company is said to be hiring hundreds of employees in the next year in its reservations and customer service areas. Using the currently proposed strategy, Statler Center would seek to contract with this airline to tailor train an agreed upon number of sight-impaired and physically disabled individuals to assume such positions pending successful graduation from the program. This is an outstanding opportunity for our agency and our future students!