For 30 years Earl Smith has been the Executive Director of Integrated Resources Inc. Integrated Resources Inc. has served the intellectually and/or physically challenged in Wyoming County since 1966. Integrated Resources Inc. was founded in 1966 as the House of Wonder by Elizabeth Williams.
Under the vision, guidance and innovation of Mr. Smith, Integrated Resources became a premier service provider throughout the state of West Virginia. He implemented policies and instituted programs designed not only to generate income for the center, but also to employ more people with disabilities than ever before. Under his leadership Integrated Resources Inc. participated in the state use program, providing custodial services and products throughout the state. Integrated Resources also operates a fully functioning woodworking shop that not only produces wood crafts, but also high quality kitchen cabinetry and elaborate entertainment systems.
For many years Integrated Resources has manufactured and sold products throughout West Virginia and in markets as far away as Asheville, North Carolina. For the past 10 years the participants at Integrated Resources Inc. have supplied Magic Mart Department Stores with approximately 30,000 tomato stakes annually in twenty-five stores across four states! They have also supplied another 3,500 tomato stakes to local hardware stores. The workshop recently completed a project for the Norfolk Southern Railroad by replacing old metal lockers with new cabinet grade wooden lockers.
Integrated Resources also provides services in the following areas: to Aged and Disabled and Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Members under the Medicaid Waiver Program; temporary employment and leased employment services; commercial and residential mowing services and vocational services in conjunction with the WV Department of Rehabilitation. Recently, IRI secured a grant to build a new facility and provide comprehensive community support services to people in Wyoming County.
Earl is an innovator and methodical thinker. His desire to save a badly needed institution from certain closure to a thriving integral part of the Wyoming County community makes Earl unique. While many would have walked away from that challenge, Earl focused on saving the workshop and providing employment for people with disabilities. From an organization that started with a dozen workshop participants and a couple of staff, Integrated Resources now employs approximately three hundred people state wide.
The vision of Elizabeth Williams was “do something nice for someone before you die”. Earl carries that vision as the objectives of Integrated Resources Inc; to assess the needs of individuals with intellectual and physical disabilities and provide them with appropriate vocational training. Integrated Resources Inc. strives to seek out and develop new products and new markets in which to showcase the talents of workshop participants and to continually train new skills. The woodworking program enriches the lives of these individuals by helping them to escalate their self-worth and self-esteem. Earl’s dedication assures that these individuals have the opportunity to become productive integrated members of society.