AEDC to host AbilityOne® Agency Day Published Feb. 28, 2014 AEDC/PA ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, TENN. -- The first phase of the Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC) contract transition will start when the Source Selection Office hosts an Agency Day for Ability One March 4. Agencies which choose to compete for work at Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC) will be able to learn about the nationally vital mission of AEDC. For 75 years the AbilityOne program has provided employment opportunities to blind and severely disabled individuals on federal installations and in local communities where there is a federal presence. AbilityOne is the single largest source of employment for blind and severely disabled individuals in the United States. There are more than 600 non-profit agencies which participate in the AbilityOne program nation-wide employing more than 50,000 employees through federal contracts and purchases. Additionally, AbilityOne makes concerted efforts to employ Wounded Warriors and disabled veterans. "The AbilityOne program is an independent federal program established by the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act to provide employment opportunities for people with significant disabilities," writes Allen Dukes, Project Manager, Business Development, at Source America. "Through Source America, one of two central nonprofit agencies under the AbilityOne program," wrote Dukes, "alongside local community rehabilitiation programs, and in collaboration with the Tennessee Vocation Rehabilitiation Department and the University of Tennessee Center for Literacy, Education and Employment, new employment opportunities servicing Arnold Air Force Base in Tullahoma and Manchester will begin by the end of the fiscal year." The anticipated award date of this effort is August 2014 with performance to begin October 1, 2014. Information on the AbilityOne Program is available www.abilityone.gov.