A local nonprofit that provides employment and training for people who are blind or visually impaired is fighting to keep jobs. IFB Solutions is set to lose over 100 positions after the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced it would end three optical contracts with the agency.
The company has made eyeglasses for the VA for the past two decades.
But a court ruling in 2018 sided with small veteran-owned businesses over AbilityOne nonprofits that employ those who are blind or have significant disabilities when it comes to VA contracts.
Dan Kelly is Chief Operating Officer for IFB Solutions. He says they're taking their fight to the Supreme Court.
“We need the Supreme Court to look at this and decide basically there are ways for these two programs to coexist where we can protect employment opportunities for people who are blind, to include veterans who are blind, while at the same time affording opportunities to small businesses for competitively awarded opportunities,” Kelly says.
The Supreme Court will decide which cases it will hear in the upcoming year in October.