Dale Rogers Training Center (DRTC), an entrepreneurial nonprofit agency that promotes independence through employment for people with disabilities, announces the hiring of its new Chief of Contract Services.
“Kevin brings a very dynamic combination of experience and expertise to the agency and our federal contracts,” said DRTC Executive Director Deborah Copeland, M.Ed.
Sonntag most recently served as Director of Population Health & Analytics at NorthCare where he supported the agency’s transition to value-based care through improving data-driven leadership capabilities and leading population health and analytics projects. He is also a Licensed Professional Counselor in Oklahoma and has led a team of therapists at Sunbeam Family Services as Director of Counseling. Sonntag received his BBA in Management-Human Resources from Texas A&M University and completed his MA in Counseling at Denver Seminary.
Dale Rogers Training Center (DRTC), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit agency, is Oklahoma’s leading community vocational training and employment center for people with disabilities in Oklahoma. With multiple locations in Oklahoma, DRTC trains, serves and employs approximately 1,000 people with disabilities per year. Visit us online: DRTC.org.
You think you know who Roy Rogers was! Along with Dale, they were a beacon for “good” and an important role model teaching kids across the United States to always do the right thing. Roy paid his dues in Hollywood in the 1940s and 1950s earning the title King of the Cowboys.
He was featured in six of Gene Autry’s films and made 33 more films later in his career as well as TV and radio.Gene Autry went on strike with his studio allowing Roy to take over his title of The Singing Cowboy.A promotional photograph for the Muppet Show featuring Dale Evans and Roy Rogers with Muppets like Beauregard, Gonzo, Kermit, Link Hogthrob, and Scooter.Roy went on to star in TV, radio and movies.Roy’s stage name was Dick Weston in the 1940s until Republic Studios gave him his own show. His real name from Duck Run, Ohio, was Leonard Slye.It’s true! Roy had Trigger stuffed after his death and exhibited at Dale & Roy Rogers Museum as a way to honor his partner and companion of 33 years.
To: Board of Directors, Dale Rogers Training Center
From: Connie Thrash McGoodwin, M.Ed., Executive Director
Re: Resignation 1981-2020
Connie Thrash McGoodwin, M.Ed.
About 12 years ago, I promised the Board an 18 month notice of intent to resign, so here we are:
Please accept my resignation as a full-time staff for June 30, 2020. I will abdicate the throne and title of Executive Director on December 31, 2019. I will remain on staff as an administrative resource to Deborah Copeland and the Board of Directors from January through June 2020. I will use this time to complete projects and documentation of agency history. Deborah and I are committed to making this transition seamless.
Some of you may know I taught special education in Australia during the 1970s. I was 27 when I was called back to be an Executive Director at an agency I had taught at in Dallas. I arrived in OKC in 1981 at the ripe old age of 31 and was pretty sure I knew everything.
The two gentlemen that hired me were John Giles, (recently deceased) and Art McIntyre. They had me attend the next “Board Council Meeting” to a very surprised Board of Directors who clearly didn’t know I had been hired or that I was going to attend the meeting. AWKWARD! Some of them were very welcoming and became life-long friends. The staff were not at all glad to see me! Their party was over.
My salary was $17,000 which was 20 percent of the $85,000 annual budget. Equipment included two typewriters and a mimeograph machine. The clients made somewhere around $1.11 cash per week; there were only 3-4 subcontracts with no time studies. Putnam City school district had two special education classrooms here in the Administration building that eventually went back to Putnam City Schools.
It was a little prehistoric here, about 45 teens and adults. It was right before the oil bust, and the agency went by the name of Oklahoma County Council for Mentally Retarded Citizens, Inc. Staff didn’t know I had been hired either. Most informed me on my first day that I didn’t really supervise their position because they: worked for Putnam City, were related to a Board member, were funded on a separate grant, or they were a volunteer; therefore, I had no jurisdiction or authority over them.
In six months I had separated the wheat from the chaff and had fired about half of the 14 staff who “didn’t really work for me.” I was only a 31-year-old kid; it was scary, but there were a half dozen Board members that steadfastly supported me. The agency and I owe them so much; Pat Knight, John Giles, Lavonne Hutchison to name a few. Also met a young 24-year old accountant from across the street. Carl Hamilton became a great sounding board for me and remains so even after 40 years.
My former husband was going through OCU Law School. With the permission of both Boards, I was executive director of both the agencies; one in Dallas and DRTC here in OKC for a year. (split work-week) It was a seamless exit from Dallas.
The Council’s Board was composed of 100 percent parents. There were some folks who decided I was too young, too rules-driven, and too demanding of our population and staff. The Council called an emergency meeting so I could “defend” myself and my programs. I told John the Council needed to decide what type of agency they wanted to be.
If it was to continue as an adult daycare, I ethically couldn’t do that. If they wanted a vocational training program, I was good. I told him to call me at home after the meeting to let me know if I still had a job. He did, and I did! Fortunately most of the families were very happy with all the new training that their sons and daughters were learning.
They were even more pleased that clients were no longer doing 8-piece puzzles or looking at scantily clad women in National Geographic. Only a handful complained and that included the oil rich mom who slammed her fist on my desk the first week yelling that I’d better learn her name; she was a big donor and could easily ruin me. For the next 3-5 years, I drove buses, did yard work, wrote curriculum, painted buildings, hired and fired. In the mid-late 1980s, I was Chair of the state-wide Oklahoma Community-Based Providers. The rest, as they say, is history:
Best Moments:
Watching clients learn, thrive, increase their paychecks, and work in the community
Chairing the committee that passed the first workshop funding by the legislature
Creating Businesses that trained clients to make awards and do framing for the public
Starting our first SourceAmerica/AbilityOne contract in Food Services and Tinker Air Force Base in 1993 (now 26 years old).
National Accreditation-Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) Cleaning Industry Management Standards (CIMS)
Celebrating Anniversaries – 25, 33, 50, and 60
60th with Roy Rogers Jr. and his band (3 generations)
Recent Biennial and Expanded Catalog and Gift Items
Robin’s Corner display given to us because I had requested it from the Rogers’ family. Permanent part of our legacy.
Worst Moments:
Losing 1/3 of our funding overnight. (mid 80’s)
Being sued by the out-of-state for-profit company who previously held a federal Tinker Food Services contract we were awarded. Then spending years trying to protect the same contract from being taken over by other entities.
Living on the edge financially until 2000’s. (trying to make payroll in 80’s and 90’s)
Not competing for donation dollars allowed DRTC to be more independent, but we were also criticized for using the entrepreneurial business model and taking the road less traveled.
It has been the biggest privilege and honor of my life to serve as your Executive Director through so many roller coaster years at DRTC. I had two marriages and a child while here. Dale Rogers will always be a part of me. The initial $85,000 agency budget now provides 18 ½ million dollars’ worth of services (21,765 percent increase in revenue, but who’s counting).
Someday I want to visit here with a grandchild and be able to say, “Look, your grandmother was part of all this! She helped make a difference!”
(Editor’s note: Connie’s last “From the Director” article, published in DRTC’s Quarterly Newsletter, September 2019)
Andy Rooney liked to say: “Life is like a roll of toilet paper, the closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes.”
Connie Thrash McGoodwin, M.Ed.
As my last four months as executive director quickly “roll” by, people regularly ask how I feel about retiring. I reply, “it’s the perfect time,” and it is. I turned 70 in August, but with a sense of humor and rebellion sporting green toe nails and a purple streak in my hair. It’s time for me to focus attention on my family, friends, health, dogs, and newest family member daughter-in-law, Sarah. She is beautiful and smart, and from Connecticut. She and our son, Colin, live in Washington, D.C. (No pressure on having grandchildren, I’ve given them 18 months.)
I’m told retiring is a bittersweet experience, especially when you love your job. Forty years is a long time for my car to head toward Northwest 23rd and Utah each morning. I love to organize so I admit I can’t wait to clean out all my closets! After the closets are clean I’m thinking about designing purses, writing my one great novel, joining a senior River Dance group, teaching a little and, of course, volunteering. I will be volunteering with young special needs children. (Remember I’m a special ed teacher and speech therapist at heart.) If you have a unique type of opportunity for me, I’m happy to hear it, but I have criteria: I can’t start till after 10 a.m., can’t stay longer than four hours, must be given a snack, and there must be restroom “facilities” within three minutes. Lastly, it must be FUN!
I am really seeing a lot more generational differences with my younger staff this last year. My abilities with electronics at this point isn’t even enough to be called remedial. The other day I asked a staff to “hang up your cell phone!” I confessed to them I go for days without taking one single picture with my phone, not one. They looked at me very sympathetically and patted my arm.
My husband, Jim, and I will have been married 30 years this fall. We crossed the “you’re officially old” line recently by buying a new couch with two recliners built into it, adding closed caption on our TV, and starting to donate to PBS. Last month we went to see the play Titanic at Lyric Theatre only to discover at the door it was being performed downtown at the Civic Center, just like the tickets said?!#? (as Jim and I often reflect, two halves do not necessarily make a whole).
This has been an amazing year for Dale Rogers Training Center, and our best fiscal year EVER! Deborah Copeland has fit right back in and is ready to take over the sheriff’s badge the end of December. There are so many great opportunities for the hundreds of folks we serve. How lucky am I to have been in a field I love since college! Past jobs at OSU, New York City, Australia, and Dallas; I’ve loved them all. I will remain at DRTC as a resource for a few months, working on a few part-time projects.
You have to be very intentional as you age, to focus on being grateful and all the “positive” things about retirement and getting older. A friend shared with me recently that one advantage to being older is kidnappers are no longer very interested in you! Likewise, if you’re in a group hostage situation, you are likely to be one of the first to be released!
At first glance, it may be hard to distinguish a connection between Oklahoma City and the West African nation of Liberia. However, the bond between the two could help change lives around the world.
My Heart’s Appeal (MHA), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is hosting its 6th Annual Benefit Fundraiser Dinner Thursday, February 8, 2018, at Church of the Servant in Oklahoma City.
The event is designed to help raise funds to create a campus in Liberia, West Africa, where teenagers and adults with intellectual disabilities can train, work and be productive.
Attendees of the benefit dinner will enjoy food, friendship, information, as well as a gallery walk, donation drawing and special entertainment.
Lovetie Major, M.Ed. founded My Heart’s Appeal in 1996 to create more opportunities for people with disabilities like her sister Titema, who has Down syndrome. Major hopes to raise funds to sponsor 40 students at the Connie Thrash McGoodwin Vocational Center in Liberia, West Africa, for the 2018-2019 academic year and sponsorships for 70 clients in its Bigma’s Care Place Respite Center.
Who: My Heart’s Appeal
What: 6th Annual Benefit Fundraiser Dinner
Where: Church of the Servant, 14343 N. MacArthur, Oklahoma City
When: Thursday, February 8, 2018, 6:00-8:00pm
Tickets: $30/person or table of 8: $225 (RSVP by Monday, February 5, 2018). Register online
Founded in 1996, the mission of My Heart’s Appeal is to facilitate the establishment of quality training and employment to teenage and adult persons with disabilities in West Africa. myheartsappeal.org
Dale Rogers Training Center (DRTC) is the oldest and largest community vocational training and employment center for people with disabilities in Oklahoma. With multiple locations in Oklahoma, DRTC trains or employs more than 1,000 people with disabilities per year. Visit us online: DRTC.org.
Anytime you’ve been in a relationship for 15 years, you’re bound to have endured many good times while creating cherished memories. The relationship between Dale Rogers Training Center (DRTC) and Pelco Products, Inc. is no different.
The two partnered with one another in 2002, expanding DRTC’s Mobile Workforce Program, which sends a team of up to eight individuals with disabilities and a DRTC staff member to various locations to complete projects.
Hard at work
Gary displays a kit he assembled.
DRTC’s crew has helped package more than 100 various kits for Pelco’s traffic and utility products. These kits, comprised of anywhere from 2-48 pieces, are used to assemble street lights, stop lights and other products made at the traffic and utility hardware manufacturer’s headquarters in Edmond, Oklahoma.
Upon assembly, completed components assembled by DRTC’s skilled workforce are distributed worldwide. Pelco sells products to all 50 states and international markets as well.
Through the 15-year partnership, DRTC’s Mobile Workforce has produced 3.5 million kits for Pelco.
“I don’t know of one kit that ever came back wrong,” said Phil Parduhn, Pelco Co-Owner.
Pelco President & CEO Steve Parduhn added, “There’s been enough kits that every man, woman, child in the state of Oklahoma could have one of these kits.”
15-year anniversary
Steve and Phil Parduhn, of Pelco, Inc., display the poster presented during the 15-year partnership celebration.
During a 15-year anniversary celebration, DRTC presented Pelco Products a poster framed at DRTC Framing, a division of DRTC, with the words “You Make a Difference,” signed by members of the Mobile Workforce team.
“It’s a joy working with you guys, having you here,” said Steve Parduhn. “Being a part of the Pelco family has been wonderful and we really appreciate it.”
The feeling is mutual from Mobile Workforce participants.
“We are family,” said Chris.
“We do a good job and like working the kits,” said Bonnie.
“We are good employees and we get the kits done,” added Sandra.
“Pelco’s commitment to providing real job opportunities for people with disabilities is something that should be modeled in more places,” said DRTC Executive Director Connie Thrash McGoodwin. “They (Pelco) have included our individuals, making them feel welcomed and part of the team.”
New opportunities
Kathy installing reflective strips to Pelco’s traffic light borders.
While DRTC’s Mobile Workforce completes the kitting jobs at Pelco’s large facility, others on Dale Rogers Training Center’s main campus complete subcontract work, providing more work opportunities for people with disabilities.
Individuals in DRTC’s Vocational Services Program also help kit items up to 19 pieces. Another subcontracting job with Pelco creates jobs for people with disabilities by having them install reflective tape along the edges of massive traffic light borders.
Bright future
As we celebrate the success we’ve had in the past, we continue to look toward the future.
Dale Rogers Training Center is excited for what’s to come with Pelco and the exciting opportunities for those served to develop skills and earn a paycheck.
DRTC, its clients, and their families are eternally grateful for the partnership, and relationships formed over the past 15 years.
About DRTC: Dale Rogers Training Center (DRTC) is the oldest and largest community vocational training and employment center for people with disabilities in Oklahoma. With multiple locations in Oklahoma, DRTC trains or employs more than 1,000 people with disabilities per year. Visit us online: DRTC.org.
Dale Rogers Training Center (DRTC), Oklahoma’s oldest and largest community vocational training and employment center for people with disabilities, received the Oklahoma City Mayor’s Committee on Disability Concerns’ 2017 Employer of the Year Award.
The annual award honors employers for outstanding hiring practices and employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
Dale Rogers Training Center also operates a Transition School-to-Work program, working with high school juniors and seniors at 17 schools in the Oklahoma City metro to equip them not only with work skills, but also personal and self advocacy skills.
As an entrepreneurial nonprofit, DRTC runs DRTC Awards (awards, trophies and promotional items division), as well as DRTC Framing (custom picture framing division), and holds custodial and food service contracts at Tinker Air Force Base, FAA and other locations.
About DRTC: Dale Rogers Training Center (DRTC) is the oldest and largest community vocational training and employment center for people with disabilities in Oklahoma. With multiple locations in Oklahoma, DRTC trains or employs more than 1,000 people with disabilities per year. Visit us online: DRTC.org.
The Oklahoma Governor’s office recognized the hard work and dedication of both employees and employers in the 2017 Governor’s Disability Employment Awards of Excellence.
Dale Rogers Training Center (DRTC) nominated several people and companies for the annual awards. DRTC contracts with the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitative Services (OKDRS) to find jobs for people with disabilities throughout the state.
DRTC-nominated award winners
Employees receiving the 2017 Governor’s Award of Excellence:
Carl Allee
James Brown
Ashley Rader
Dale Thornton
Amber Treese
Businesses receiving the 2017 Governor’s Award of Excellence
Dale Rogers Training Center’s (DRTC) AMP-300 Facility Services Staff, which is the building and maintenance division at the nonprofit’s FAA contract, was honored with the 2017 Keller-Sullivan Award.
The National Coalition of Federal Aviation Employees with Disabilities (NCFAED) presents the award annually to honor employees or supports who go, “above and beyond their expected responsibilities to achieve unique hiring, promotion or advancement results for those who struggle daily with a physical or mental disability.”
Carrie works at DRTC’s FAA Work Project
Approximately 36 of DRTC’s 50 FAA contract employees have a documented disability, and they earn above minimum wage while receiving excellent benefits. The team is responsible for cleaning 88 buildings at Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center.
The award presented to contract staff was made at DRTC Awards, a division of Dale Rogers Training Center specializing in customer acrylic awards, plaques, trophies, medals, promotional items and more.
About DRTC: Dale Rogers Training Center (DRTC) is the oldest and largest community vocational training and employment center for people with disabilities in Oklahoma. With multiple locations in Oklahoma, DRTC trains or employs more than 1,000 people with disabilities per year. Visit us online: DRTC.org.
Dale Rogers Training Center (DRTC), Inc., a nonprofit agency that provides training and jobs for people with disabilities in Oklahoma, earned a Three-Year Accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) International.
The Three-Year Accreditation, which is the highest level awarded by CARF, is DRTC’s third consecutive certification at the three-year rating since 2011.
“The results of our latest CARF survey are a testament to our commitment to person-centered philosophy, as well as to the hard work and dedication of the staff at DRTC who ensure quality services for those served by the agency,” said Connie Thrash McGoodwin, M.Ed., DRTC executive director.
Surveyors visiting DRTC witnessed the agency’s commitment to offering programs and services that are measurable, accountable and of the highest quality. In their report, they mentioned strengths in many areas, including customized services for clients, a high level of satisfaction from the parents & caregivers of those served, and an engaged and dedicated Board of Directors.
“This was one of the most thorough CARF surveys DRTC has ever been part of and we are absolutely thrilled with the results,” added Thrash McGoodwin. “The latest accreditation further solidifies DRTC as a champion of promoting the unique capabilities of people with disabilities whom we help gain independence through employment and work opportunities.”
About DRTC: Dale Rogers Training Center (DRTC) is the oldest and largest community vocational training and employment center for people with disabilities in Oklahoma. With multiple locations in Oklahoma, DRTC trains or employs more than 1,100 people with disabilities per year. Visit us online: DRTC.org.
About CARF International: Founded in 1966, CARF International is an independent, nonprofit accreditor of health and human services. Through accreditation, CARF assists service providers in improving the quality of their services, demonstrating value, and meeting internationally recognized organizational and program standards. Learn more about the accreditation process at CARF.org.
Due to anticipated severe weather DRTC's Main Campus at Northwest 23rd and Utah Avenue will be closed November 4. Dismiss
