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Statler Fun Facts

… students have traveled a total 42,123 miles to attend the Statler Center? Double that number to calculate the round trip! Students have traveled to Buffalo to attend the program from Las Vegas, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Ohio, California, Texas, Michigan, North and South Carolina, Hawaii, Washington, New Jersey, Minnesota, Missouri, and New Mexico. We are proud to add Vermont and Indiana to that list next class with two students having been accepted into the program from those states!

… 4690 miles is the distance between the Statler Center and our farthest graduate? Virgil Stinnett is working in Honolulu, Hawaii as a PBX (switchboard) operator for the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort.

… the Statler Center has some international appeal? Statler students born outside of the U.S. were from Jamaica, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Armenia, Canada, and India.

… applicants are competing for enrollment? Over 800 people have interviewed for acceptance into our program. As of the last class, 220 people have graduated from the Statler Center. Following graduation of the current class, that number will hit 231!

… the average length of time Statler students were unemployed prior to attending the program? It’s 4½ years. The cumulative amount of time Statler graduates have been unemployed before attending the program is 495 years.

… how helpful our program is? To date, 85% of all Statler graduates are have found employment.

… how needed our program is? The national unemployment rate for individuals who are visually or physically impaired is 70%. Compare this to the national unemployment rate of people without disabilities of 5.7%.

… what Statler graduates can expect to earn after the program? On average, the starting wage is $8.71 per hour. The highest wage earned by a Statler graduate is $37,000 annually.

… we've had many a class mascot? Today, Paige is named among the ranks of the many guide dogs who have received honorary Statler certificates: Reggie, Irish, Wolf, Dutchie, Shelley, Wayne, Polly, Viking, Portia, Piedmont, Alden, and Angel, and Frisbee.

… the students we just couldn’t get rid of? Steve Zambito and was welcomed to the staff of the Statler Center last year! Graduates Colleen Kaczmarek, Betty Wagner, and Claudia Akin, and Chet Smalley were also hired by the Olmsted Center for the Visually Impaired.

… we go the extra mile? Statler associates have traveled over 60,000 miles on behalf of graduates to set up adaptive equipment and seek employment.

… who keeps coming back for more? The Adam’s Mark Buffalo has hired five graduates! Thank you to the Adam’s Mark for giving Jennifer Morretto, Joe Horton, Steve Zambito, Yvonne Gilliam, and Pearl Arnold their start in the hospitality industry. The Adam’s Mark in Houston, Texas has begun to follow suit, having hired Pablo Tirado of the 10th graduating class.

… statler graduate's have been hired by 5-star Ritz Carlton hotel's.

… which state, other than New York, has produced the most Statler graduates? Seven students have traveled to Buffalo from Michigan.