St. Louis family-owned business presented with 2017 Special Ambassador Award
Accent was recently honored with the prestigious 2017 Special Ambassador Award by the Special School District (SSD). The award recognizes the company’s partnership with SSD for its Vocational Skills Program, as well as its Community-Based Vocational Instruction program. The Vocational Skills Program offers eight students ages 17.5 to 21 years of age the opportunity to become a part of the Accent team. Students who are carefully selected by SSD rotate through many different job experiences at Accent including warehouse, print, and fulfillment to packaging, administrative assistant, and clerical duties. They are assisted by two SSD aides and one teacher.
SSD’s program emphasizes self-advocacy for the students in the classroom, on the work site, and in their community. The program is designed to teach and train these young adults the skills they can utilize for future job placement after they turn 21 years old. “This is the first year we have offered this program so we were extremely honored to receive this award,” said Accent co-owner Erica Hughes. “We truly enjoy our partnership with the Special School District where we see firsthand the training results which inspire students to secure paid employment.”
Pictured from left to right is Accent co-owner Erica Hughes, SSD students Sydney Robison and Johnny Zaloudek, and Accent co-owner Jason Hughes. Founded in 2003, Accent provides marketing communication and third party logistic solutions. Husband and wife team Erica and Jason Hughes are the working owners of the company, which serves their clients and community with full-service printing, intelligent fulfillment, retail solutions, and branding. The company’s headquarters is located at 1154 Reco Ave. in St. Louis, Mo. For more information, call (314) 965-5388 or visit www.accentgroupsolutions.com.