Dongan Hills resident is one of 16 employers honored as role models in the business community
Sunday, November 11, 2007
ADVANCE STAFF WRITER
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- For its history of employing individuals with disabilities, Arimed, a Brooklyn-based orthotics and prosthetics firm owned by a Staten Island resident, was honored recently by Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and his advisory committee on Disability Issues.
Arimed was nominated by Elaine Winslow, coordinator of Career Directions and Transitional Services at Long Island University, after she placed a senior majoring in marketing in a paid internship, which has evolved into a part-time job in the firm's marketing and promotion department.
"Arimed welcomed me with open arms," said Kareem Maxwell, the student who transferred to Long Island University from a college in South Carolina after he contracted bacterial meningitis in 2002 and underwent several amputations. "This was my first step into the working world since this happened to me. It's been a good experience."
Steven Mirones, of Dongan Hills, president of Arimed, praised Maxwell and the contribution he's made to the firm. "He's really quite amazing," Mirones said. "He's so even-tempered and centered and he doesn't carry himself with any sense of disability. He's enthusiastic and a great addition to the staff."
Ms. Winslow said when she toured Arimed, she observed that several individuals with disabilities were working for the firm. According to Tim Evans, Arimed's chief operating officer, "All employees are treated with respect and appreciation for the work they perform."
The 16 innovative employers honored at the Oct. 11th awards breakfast at Brooklyn Borough Hall are role models in the business community, said Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. Businesses that employ individuals with disabilities are doing the right thing, he said, but also making a wise business investment because when the labor pool shrinks after millions of baby boomers begin retiring in the next few years there will be an even greater demand for trained workers.
Arimed's award is the second in two years that the firm has received from the Brooklyn Borough President and his Advisory Committee on Disability Issues. In 2005, Arimed received a Business Advocacy Award for its generosity in donating prostheses to victims of violence, accidents, and war.
Under the leadership of Mirones, Arimed donated C-Legs, which are computerized prosthetics, to Paul Esposito, who lost his legs in the Oct. 15, 2003, Staten Island Ferry crash; donated prosthetic legs to Edgar Rivera, whose legs were severed after being shoved in front of an uptown No. 6 train in 1999; donated artificial limbs to victims mutilated in the civil war in Sierra Leone, Africa; and provided both prosthetic and orthotics services to destitute children in Ahmedebad, India.
Founded in 1949, Arimed features American Board Certified orthotists and prosthetists, professional orthopedic fitters and technicians, and an on-site laboratory and technical staff, and has offices in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Staten Island and the Bronx.
More information about the firm is available at www.arimed.com.
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