Mary Michael wasn't too crazy about this idea.

It was fall 2010. Her employer, the DoubleTree Resort at Willow Valley, was hiring two new dishwashers through Goodwill Keystone Area.

Goodwill, which trains people with disabilities for jobs, would provide a "job coach" to be with them until they knew their jobs thoroughly.

Still...

"I was a little skeptical and a little nervous," said Michael, then the sous chef and now the executive chef.

"I hadn't had a whole of lot of experience with this."

A year later, though, Michael describes herself as "pleasantly surprised" with the way the move played out.

"All the things I thought would be issues weren't," she said. "They work hard and I don't even have to ask them to."

Michael, like other employers here, discovered how hiring people with disabilities brings productive, loyal workers — and tax incentives worth thousands of dollars.

But for the agencies such as Goodwill that try to place people with disabilities into jobs, it's often a tough sell, especially in a lousy post-recession economy.

"It's very difficult to place people with disabilities in jobs," Jennifer Ross, spokeswoman for Goodwill Keystone Area, said.

"There aren't very many jobs available. And, with the unemployment rate high, people who've lost jobs are applying for anything and everything.

"So there's more competition" for the few job openings, Ross said.

It's tough for anyone to find a job, as the county's 6.5 percent unemployment rate shows.

But nationally, an astounding 81.5 percent of people with disabilities are not working, according to federal statistics.

That's roughly 12 times higher than the county jobless rate for all adults.

(There's no monthly county unemployment data for people with disabilities.)

Measured another way, of 45 county residents with disabilities who asked Goodwill to find them jobs in the last fiscal year, Goodwill placed 18.

Goodwill is one of several agencies locally that train and place people with disabilities.

"We're trying to help educate employers about what's in it for them," said Becky Mohr, facilitator for the Lancaster County Employment Council.

"I don't think they realize there are supports for not only individuals but for employers, too," she said.

Mohr, a mental health program specialist with the Lancaster County Office of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Early Intervention, said those supports are far-reaching.

At no cost to the employer, agencies can screen potential hires, provide training, figure out whether any workplace accommodations are necessary and identify tax incentives.

Beyond those tangible tasks, Mohr said, agencies can explain how workers with disabilities usually are stellar performers — dedicated and productive.

Many employers incorrectly believe that, if the hire doesn't work out, they won't be able to fire the person under any circumstances, Mohr added.

That's just one of many myths that the council finds itself debunking.

Some employers have unfounded fears that workers with disabilities won't blend into the workforce.

Or they'll cause insurance rates to climb.

Or they'll have poor attendance and safety records.

Or they'll be less productive.

"Employers are reluctant to hire people with disabilities because they think it'll be more trouble than it's worth," said Mohr.

"There's a lot of stigma out there. It's really a lack of education about what folks with disabilities are capable of," she said.

Linda Speldos can testify to those abilities.

Speldos, a Goodwill employment specialist who helps clients find jobs and prepare for them, said:

"For people who are told 'You can't do, you can't do, go get a bagger job,' but have the potential to do so much more, it's so nice to find them the job they were put on this earth to do," Speldos said.

"It just warms my heart."

Speldos helped ready the DoubleTree dishwashers, Khalif Whetts and Nate Criswell.

Whetts, 25, of Lancaster, spent four years in Goodwill's Work Activities Center, Speldos said.

There he honed "soft" skills such as how to dress properly, interact with co-workers, handle conflict and be punctual.

He was passionate about someday being a dishwasher, though.

And after Speldos spotted a DoubleTree want-ad for the position, Speldos helped him apply online and prepare for an interview.

Once he was hired for the part-time post in September 2010, she spent three months by his side at the DoubleTree.

She learned the dishwasher job and taught it to him.

"I was there with Khalif until he knew the job inside out," Speldos said.

Whetts has earned high marks for his work ethic, positive attitude and perfect, on-time attendance.

"If I ask him to cut potatoes, he'll do it with a smile on his face and do it great," said Michael, the DoubleTree executive chef.

"He'll never say, 'That's not my job.'"

Whetts takes pride in his performance on the job.

"I do everything I can do. I like to work hard," he said.

Criswell, 28, of Nottingham, came to Goodwill through Social Security's Ticket to Work program, said Speldos.

(The program lets a Social Security recipient keep his SSI or SSDI benefits while working.)

Criswell was hired for the part-time job in October 2010. Speldos worked with him at the DoubleTree for a month.

"I love to work," Criswell said. "I'm a workhorse, usually. It's good to get things done."

Michael credits Speldos for teaching her how to best interact with her new employees.

They're among six dishroom employees and 15 kitchen employees who Michael supervises.

Some techniques were as simple as writing down instructions (instead of giving them orally only) and explaining the mechanical operation of the dishwashing machine.

The experience with the two dishwashers has transformed Michael from skeptic to advocate.

She's delighted to have added two highly motivated employees.

"That kind of work ethic is very hard to come by," she said.

Michael is so impressed with the performance of the two dishwashers that she said she'll consider hiring people with disabilities again should an opening arise.

Besides being good for the DoubleTree, Michael said, the experience has been good for her, too, improving her leadership skills with her entire staff.

"It's taught me how to deal with people in a more calm and efficient and nonconfrontational way. It's taught me patience," she said.

"I think I'm a better person for it."

tmekeel@lnpnews.com