About Us

Upbound Staffing, a fully-integrated program within the Autism Alliance of Michigan, leads and supports disability-employment initiatives throughout the State of Michigan. The mission of Upbound Staffing is to improve the economic integration, wealth, and independence of job seekers with disabilities through coordinated advocacy, access to evidence based services and supports, and, ultimately, inclusion in employment. A corollary mission is the correction of the labor market imbalance that leads employers to undercapitalize on available talent by providing them with preemptive training on inclusive recruitment, culture audits, advocacy, and by maintaining a database of job seekers with disabilities that employers can hire from.

In late 2017, the AAOM employment program made its first step at formal expansion in the state, in partnership with Grand Traverse Industries, with the Traverse Bay Neurodiversity Pilot. At the start of the pilot, four companies expressed interest in collaboration - TentCraft, Plascon, Armor Express, and Bill Marsh Auto; of them, Bill Marsh and TentCraft led to placements in general labor roles. The professional job seekers recruited by the program initially found employment outside the region with other employer partners - Ernst & Young and the State of Michigan. To prevent a brain drain of skilled talent and reiterate the value of maintaining talent in the community, the pilot later developed placement relationships with RJG, Skilled Manufacturing Inc. and Bill Marsh Automotive for white-collar talent.