A Partnership Of Opportunity For New York State
For more than 30 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 148 community rehabilitation agencies and private sector business partners to employ skilled people with disabilities in both facility-based settings and community-based jobs.
Through more than 1000 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 2006 alone, 3.3 million hours of work were performed by more than 6,258 people with disabilities, earning them over $35million in wages.
Everyone benefits from Preferred Source purchasing:
- NYS government purchasers get the goods and services they need without costly, time-consuming bidding.
- NYSID workers with disabilities throughout the state acquire marketable skills through productive jobs and wages that promote self-esteem and financial independence.
- New York State gains from reduced public assistance as disabled workers become economically independent and increased government tax revenues from employed vs. dependent individuals.
Please click to select member agencies in that county::
In 1945, New York State became first in the nation to enact legislation designed to give a preference in government procurement to products made by agencies employing people with blindness. Generally referred to as “state use” laws, the New York legislation is known as the “preferred source” program. In 1974, New York State amended Article XI, Section 175 (now Section 162) of the State Finance Law, which added to the Preferred Source Program products made by rehabilitation agencies employing disabled New Yorkers, and, in 1978 the law was again amended to add services.
The State Commissioner of Education designated New York State Industries for the Handicapped, Inc. (“NYSIH”) in 1975 and 1978 to secure and administer product and service contracts on behalf of community rehabilitation agencies employing people with disabilities.
In 1991, NYSIH changed its corporate name to New York State Industries for the Disabled, Inc. (“NYSID”). NYSID's members are non-profit agencies serving disabled persons, which are approved by the State Commissioner of Education, Office of Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities, and which, through the Preferred Source Program, provide employment opportunities to New York State residents who would otherwise find personal obstacles difficult to overcome in securing meaningful work.
In 1995, the law was significantly revised, including establishment of the State Procurement Council and the Corporate Partnering Program, and to establish a five-year “sunset” (expiration) date for the program. The original 2000 sunset date was extended to 2005, and the sunset provision itself was removed from the program's legislation in 2002.
The NYS Preferred Source Law mandates that all state agencies, public benefit corporations, and local government entities purchase those NYSID products and services approved by the NYS Office of General Services which meet the buying agency's “form, function, and utility” requirements, without competitive bidding. Procurement of commodities and services from preferred sources takes precedence over all other methods of supply and competitive procurement methods. The intent of the law is clear -- to direct the normal procurement activity of the state and local governments to benefit disabled residents through employment.