Senator Lankford Visits NewView

Gerald’s fire hoses, Hannah’s five-year job search, and why NewView exists”

U.S. Senator James Lankford stopped by our Douglas Manufacturing facility recently to see the work firsthand and hear directly from the people doing it.

He met Gerald, who helps lead the team producing fire hoses for the U.S. Forest Service. In the video the Senator posted afterward, Gerald talked about what it means to know his work supports firefighters across the country. Senator Lankford put it simply: NewView Oklahoma is the state’s largest employer of people who are blind or have low vision. We work hard, we serve others, and we get the job done.

That visit was about more than a tour. Senator Lankford also heard from employees about the barriers they’ve faced trying to find work in the first place.

Hannah Kinsey, who earned a vocal performance degree, spent five years applying for jobs before finding her way to NewView’s digital accessibility team. The holdup was never her qualifications. It was job applications that didn’t work with screen readers, licensing requirements that excluded her for no good reason, and interviewers who lost interest the moment they saw her white cane.

“When a visually impaired person tries to go get a job, people look at you like you are a liability,” said Preston Fenton, a NewView employee. “But here at NewView, we’re not looked at like that.”

“Every person who walks through our doors has something to offer. Our job is to remove the barriers that keep them from proving it,” said Lauren Branch, President and CEO of NewView Oklahoma. “Senator Lankford’s visit was an opportunity to show him what’s possible when people who are blind are given a real shot at meaningful work.”

That’s the difference NewView is built on. Employees here aren’t given busy work. They’re trained and trusted with real jobs, from digital accessibility services to precision manufacturing on contracts for the U.S. Forest Service and others.