About Us

Our Mission:

Turning business opportunities into JOBS for New Yorkers with disabilities.

Who We Are

For more than 35 years, NYSID – a not-for-profit member agency organization – has been meeting the purchasing needs of state and local government agencies while advancing employment for New Yorkers with disabilities.

Under the legislatively-mandated New York State Preferred Source Program, NYSID acts as a "virtual storefront" for a statewide network of 165 community rehabilitation agencies and private sector business partners to employ skilled people with disabilities in production facilities and community-based jobs.

Through more than 1,500 contracts that bring work to NYS communities, NYSID member agencies deliver quality goods and services at OGS-approved prices to fulfill individual government agency missions.

In Fiscal Year 2011, more than 6,500 people with disabilities earned $47 million in Preferred Source wages and worked 3.6 million hours.

Everyone benefits from Preferred Source purchasing:

NYS government purchasers acquire necessary goods and services without costly, time-consuming bidding.
NYSID workers with disabilities acquire marketableskills through productive jobs and wages that promote self-esteem andfinancial independence.
New York State benefits from a reduction in publicassistance as disabled workers become economically independent, and benefits from an increase in government tax revenues from employed vs. dependent individuals