Employment rises amongst the visually impaired

One of Elmira’s least known small businesses, operated by the Southern Tier Association for the Visually Impaired, is weeks away from wrapping up an expansion project that will allow the operation to add more workers and expand the activities those workers will do.

The $188,000 expansion will add 3,456 sq.-ft. of manufacturing and warehousing space to the existing building at 719 Lake St, which houses a small not-for-profit business that hires visually impaired workers . The new space will initially be used for a new product line — nine varieties of surgical and industrial face masks, although the agency’s executive director Timothy Hertlein said additional product lines would be coming the future.

Presently, the workers employed by the agency refurbish laser toner cartridges.The construction is scheduled for completion in December and the new products will be distributed in January.