Social Enterprise – Finalist
Beyond Vision
5316 W. State St., Milwaukee
According to the National Health Interview Survey, there is a 70 percent unemployment rate among blind or visually impaired individuals in the United States.
Milwaukee-based Beyond Vision fights daily to improve that rate by making up nearly 50 percent of its workforce with blind or visually impaired individuals.
Adaptation and innovation has made that possible.
Representatives in customer care use screen readers, braille displays or screen magnifiers; in assembly and packaging, staff engineers have built entire systems that make processes safe and error-proof, including talking scales, efficient workstations and 3D printed adaptive pieces.
The Beyond Vision machine shop does CNC milling, turning, sawing and even manual machining, and is almost entirely run by people who are blind.
Previously a state-run agency, Beyond Vision has more than 100 years of manufacturing history. And though it’s a small organization, it brings big economic multipliers to Wisconsin.
Beyond Vision has longstanding relationships with local customers such as Briggs & Stratton Corp., Harley-Davidson Inc., Pentair plc, P&H Mining Equipment Inc., Morris Material Handling and Oshkosh Defense.
