Staff photo by Kevin Sweeney Area legislators Sen. Gary Dahms and Rep. Paul Torkelson (3rd and 4th from right) were among visitors given a tour of MRCI WorkSource’s facilities in New Ulm on Friday, to learn more about MRCI’s mission to provide employment opportunities to disadvantaged clients. Others in the group are (from right) Audra Shaneman of the New Ulm Chamber of Commerce and Bill Smith, a job resource staffer with MRCI. Third and fourth from left are Vicki Pieser and Charlie Guggisberg, MRCI volunteers, and next to them is Brian Benshoof, CEO of MRCI Worksource.

NEW ULM — Area legislators toured the MRCI WorkSource facility in New Ulm on Friday to learn more about the program.

Sen. Gary Dahms (R-Redwood Falls) and Rep. Paul Torkelson (R-Hanska) joined clients, staff, volunteer and employers on the tour of the facility at 2100 N. Broadway. They learned that MRCI finds real employment opportunities for people with disabilities or disadvantages.

Currently, MRCI partners with dozens of employers in New Ulm, providing job opportunities for MRCI’s clients. The clients receive training and support on the job from MRCI staff, and perform work for employers, with MRCI funding supporting the wages of the workers.

In the past, more clients worked at the MRCI facility, but today more and more are working out in the community at the plant or business. MRCI contracts with business to provide the workers, but some workers are employed directly by the businesses.

The wages earned by the clients help them live more independently, and the opportunity to work gives them a sense of accomplishment.

Both legislators expressed support for the program. Dahms, who is on the board of Service Enterprises in Redwood Falls, said he had a brother with disabilities, and his parents worked hard in the 1950s to get him educational and life opportunities.

Torkelson said it is valuable for him as a legislator to see that the state is supporting a valuable program, and affirm to his colleagues that it is performing a worthwhile service.