Governor Tony Evers recently appointed Tracy Nelson, CEO of ESI, to the Wisconsin State Use Board. Tracy has been the CEO of ESI since 2015 and brings to the board her Knowledge of work center policies and practices as well as understanding the importance of providing work to people with disabilities.

The State Use Board provides oversight to the State Use Program to ensure it is administered in accord with the State Use Law of 1989. The law directs state agencies to purchase products and services from Wisconsin’s certified work centers like ESI that employ persons with disabilities. The goal of the Wisconsin State Use Board is to maximize state agency contracting, including the University of Wisconsin System, with Wisconsin qualified Work Centers, ensuring the procurement of quality products and services while providing a positive impact on the employment of individuals with a disability. The primary service that Work Centers provide to State agencies is Custodial Service. This includes maintaining and cleaning State buildings and most of the Rest Areas along Wisconsin’s interstate highways. Work Centers’ sales to State agencies include: can-liners, ballpoint pens, brooms, brushes, floor pads for cleaning machines, mailings, pencils, toothpaste, and also disposable mop heads and launderable dust mops many of which are manufactured at Algoma Mop Manufacturers (a division of ESI) in Algoma.

The Wisconsin State Use Board is made up of eight members which include representatives of work centers, State agencies, and the public. Each member is appointed by the Governor to serve a four-year term and has staff within the Department of Administration, State Bureau of Procurement, to manage its daily operations. The board meets quarterly and encourages comments and questions from the public at each of its meetings to ensure the Board is aware of developing opportunities, issues, and concerns.