Ursa Major Consulting, LLC

We are pleased to announce that we are assisting Goodwill Industries of South Florida in implementation of new case management software. Goodwill is dedicated to providing rehabilitation, on-the-job training, work experience, and placement services to help people with disabilities and special needs overcome barriers to employment and become employed in the community. Goodwill of South Florida is one of the largest Goodwills in the country and serves a diverse population.

The anticipated benefits from this change include:

• Streamlined processes
• Reduced redundant work
• Better data and improved ability to access data on clients, programs, and services provided, both for daily operations and for strategic decisions
• Better insights into outcomes achieved, and
• Improved and easier reporting.

With Catoctin Consulting, we will assist Goodwill with the change process, from requirement validation and planning onward. We look forward to working closely with them to make this effort a success!

We are pleased to announce that we are assisting Virginia Industries for the Blind (VIB) with their strategic planning effort.

VIB is is a division of the Virginia Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired (DBVI), and provides employment opportuniities for Virginians who are blind or visually impaired in two manufacturing plants, eleven base supply stores, and six service locations. They have diverse contracts with federal agencies through the AbilityOne Program (e.g., contract management and closeout services for the U. S. Army), contracts through State Agency agreements such as  the Virginia Court Debt Collection Office, the Department of Motor Vehicles, and the Virginia Employment Commission, and manufacture items as diverse as mattresses for the U. S. Navy and state colleges and universities and reflective vests for the Virginia Department of Trnsportation.

Given the improvements in assistive technology and more ambitious expectations of young people who are blind and people who lose their sight after gaining work experience, VIB is exploring ways to attract workers who are looking for more than traditional product manufacturing. In fact, some of VIB's experienced contract closeout employees have already been hired by the government, which is quite a successful outcome for those people.

We look forward to helping VIB plan the modernization of its business to meet the evolving needs of people who are blind or vision impaired.

Another app I love is Google Translate.  While I've used Google Translate from time to time on the web, it's even more useful on the phone since you probably already have it with you when you need it.

It's nicely integrated with speech and with texting. While it's not perfect, it's a great resource beyond pointing and gesturing. Just make sure it gets the speech to text right:  e.g., :"robotics trip" vs. "robotic strip". Common words and simple phrases come through OK if spoken carefully.

The selection of languages is also pretty amazing, and it works in both directions in a conversational mode. When I was at Goodwill South Florida, I showed them it could not only handle Spanish but also Hatian Creole.

So this is one more tool just to have for those times when you just can't find the word in Spanish or don't have a clue how to say it in Korean. And the price is right.