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M&T Bank, a leading financial services company serving the northeast region, recently began collaborating with The Precisionists (TPI), a Wilmington, Del.-based organization focused on employment for adults with disabilities. The pilot program, about to celebrate its first anniversary, uses the talents of a team of autistic adults from TPI’s workforce to tackle critical business needs within M&T’s Banking Services/Systems Administration, Data Solutions Reporting and IPDS departments. “When properly assessed and trained, people with autism are extremely high-performing employees working in critical and challenging jobs such as administrative business functions, including scanning documents and data entry, software testing, website QA, and data analytics," said Ernie Dianastasis, CEO of The Precisionists. "When you consider that more than 80 percent of people with autism in the country are either unemployed or underemployed, we are making a true difference in engaging a significant, untapped labor force. We are thrilled to partner on this project with M&T a highly respected company, that continues to demonstrate leadership and commitment to the community.” Individuals taking part in the pilot program were identified, assessed, trained and employed by TPI. For the last ten months, they have been carrying out project-based work, including access management verification, daily, weekly and monthly audit reports, database cleansing, mortgage information verification, process documentation creation, as well as processing Fraud and Non-Fraud Credit Card disputes. All work is performed at The Precisionists’ Innovation & Technology Center in Wilmington, Delaware. “The Precisionists have created an innovative model that focuses on the talents and strengths of people with diverse abilities,” said Chris Tolomeo, Senior Vice President of Banking Services. We here at M&T are thrilled to be part of this effort, as it aligns so well with our values”. The work being done by the TPI associates is adding strong value to M&T. They have taken on projects that are essential to our day-to-day business,” said Janet Bolt, Group Vice President of Banking Services. “As a company that is committed to growing a diverse workforce, we support the work by The Precisionists to nurture the talents and strengths of people with diverse abilities,” said Nick Lambrow, M&T Bank’s Delaware Regional President. “The employees we have brought in from The Precisionists have been reliable contributors to our team.” Those entering the program go through a comprehensive four-week training program. As part of the program, M&T hopes to identify additional opportunities to expand this employment model to other parts of the business, further supporting The Precisionists’ goal of employing 10,000 people with diverse abilities in the United States by 2025.