Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith tours the Mississippi Industries for the Blind

According to the American Federation for the Blind, more than half of people who are blind or visually impaired in the United States are not employed. The Mississippi Industries for the Blind is the largest employer of blind and visually impaired individuals in the state. The agency hires workers at the executive levels and within the agency’s factory spaces - to make products and operate a seasonal call center. 

Donovan Beitel is the executive director of the Mississippi Industries for the Blind and is visually impaired. After exchanging greetings with Sen. Hyde-Smith, he guided her to a small showcase in the front of the agency, which displayed all of the products made in the agency’s factory.

“Our main product is this one,” he said. “This one we've had, we know, since 1956. It's the barrack's bag. So anybody you know that's been deployed got their PT gear and their barrack bag.”

The government contracts the MIB currently has also allows it to make ammunition patches and pistol belts. The agency also produces household items, including sponges, mops, brooms and postal service equipment. The agency funds itself, paying employees through funds made from the products and services. 

As the tour moved into a dedicated call-center area, MIB manager Joe Spicer spoke to the senator about how the center works for visually impaired workers. 

“We put this contact center up in about 2012 because we figured that people who are visually impaired can do contact center work just as well as anyone that's sighted,” he said. “So the main thing with our contact center is we have adaptive equipment, where we have equipment called JAWS, which reads the screen for people, like a screen reader. We also have other equipment which blows the computers up so people can see it that normally couldn't see it if it was in regular print.”

Spicer said it was important for blind and visually impaired people to know that they could be employed and retain independence. 

“At least have folks who are blind and visually impaired have something to do where they can feel like they are contributing to society,” he told Sen. Hyde-Smith. 

In another part of the building, the senator spoke to Melvin Traylor, a visually impaired employee from Jackson. He was a truck driver before he began to lose his vision. 

“I had a great life,” Traylor said. “I mean, I just miss more of hunting, fishing, and all that.”

He’s been working at the Mississippi Industries for the Blind for 13 years. 

The senator looked on as visually impaired seamstress Mary Nichols sewed a postal worker accessory.

“How many of those do you do a day?” Sen. Hyde-Smith asked her. 

“I might do a thousand a day,” Nichols responded, smiling as she showed the senator how she was able to use her machine to quickly stitch the strap.

After the bell alerting workers it was closing time rang, Senator Hyde-Smith spoke to a small group of representatives from the agency about their fears that the production of the products they create could go overseas.

She said she appreciated the tour’s ability to make her more conscious of what the needs of her community were. 

“It just makes you aware and to capitalize on the opportunities that you have, that you see that may be a new opportunity,” Sen. Hyde-Smith told those gathered in the room. “But very conscious of the fact we need to keep these contracts here.”

Mississippi has the second highest prevalence rate of vision loss in the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.