Joe Pecchia, Youngstown — Letter to Chairman Johnson (Wednesday, May 21, 2025)

Summary

Testimony in opposition to HB225 from Joe Pecchia, dated Wednesday, May 21, 2025, and addressed to Chairman Johnson, Vice Chair Lear, Ranking Member McNally and members of the Commerce and Labor Committee. The testimony states that the witness is a current non-profit board member of MASCO Inc. and describes experience with clients with developmental disabilities going back to 1983. It states that the elimination of the sub-minimum wage in Ohio will ultimately have a negative impact on most of the clients served. It asks whether there has been a study of the 16 states that have eliminated sub-minimum wage jobs and encourages that a survey of the existing customer base be completed.

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“Joe Pecchia, Youngstown — Letter to Chairman Johnson (Wednesday, May 21, 2025).” Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/2025-05-21-commerce-labor-testimony-testimony-7982-df18ce8af5/, SHA-256 4b8c73cd7a1452c52ed58ca7c03e373ef75dc11de4903c642ecfb994c29f41ba.

Full text

JollySantaJoe Pecchia
764 Ewing Rd.
Youngstown, OH 44512
Phone (330) 397-8355
Email: JollySantaJoe@gmail.com
Website: www.jollysantajoe.com

Wednesday, May 21, 2025
Chairman Johnson, Vice Chair Lear, Ranking Member McNally and members of the Commerce
and Labor Committee
Good afternoon, my name is Joe Pecchia and I’ve been a life-long resident in Mahoning County.
My interest here today is as an opponent of HB225. First, it is important for the committee
members to understand why I am here today.
I am a current non-profit board member of MASCO Inc., an adult services company located in
Mahoning County. However, my experience engaging with clients with developmental disabilities
goes back to 1983. I worked with Crossroads Rehabilitation Center, an Easter Seal affiliate in
Indianapolis, IN. The company I worked for hired Crossroads to assemble a product, store the
assembled parts and deliver them as needed to our customer’s building. It was a unique product
that required hot-melt glue, and assembly of corrugate sheets with foam runners. Our company
supplied the hot melt glue system, the glue, assembly jigs, and all of the materials required for
the final product. Crossroads supplied labor, storage, and delivery. It was an extraordinarily
successful program for Crossroads, our customer BDP Corp., and our company. This was a true
partnership that promoted the socio-economic benefit for everyone.
Here is what I learned from this experience. Could I have opened a plant in Indianapolis and set
up an assembly plant for this application and customer? Absolutely! Could we have outperformed
the assembly rate of Crossroads? Absolutely! Did I help the clients of Crossroads feel good about
their worth and purpose? Absolutely! Did the clients of Crossroads feel good about making a
paycheck? No doubt about it. I passionately believe it was my purpose to help Crossroads
succeed.
The program was so successful that I tried to replicate it in Youngstown with MASCO, Inc.
Because of my sales efforts, MASCO asked me if I would be interested in becoming a member
of their non-profit Board of Directors, which I did in 1988. I served on that board until January of
2011 when the Mahoning County Probate Judge appointed me to the MCBDD Board. I served on
MCBDD board until December of 2023 when I was term limited. I was then asked to rejoin the
MASCO board in March of 2024 of which I am still a member. Therefore, I have valuable
experience with this issue.
The elimination of the sub-minimum wage in Ohio will ultimately have a negative impact on most
of the clients we serve. MCBDD has been working towards placing the clients with private
companies for many years. The reality is that not all the clients are able to perform the skills
required for most private companies.
MASCO has secured work for a handful of loyal customers that chose to work with us on projects
that do not require a special skill set. If MASCO is forced by this bill to start charging our customers
JollySantaJoe Pecchia
764 Ewing Rd.
Youngstown, OH 44512
Phone (330) 397-8355
Email: JollySantaJoe@gmail.com
Website: www.jollysantajoe.com

based on minimum wage, they will have no incentive to utilize us. The main question is: why
wouldn’t the customer hire workers without disabilities, pay them minimum wage, and achieve
greater productivity? Do you think all customers will believe with idealism like I did back in 1983
and get buy-in from a BDP type Corp.? I highly doubt it.
The most medically fragile clients would not be able to work in private industry. They may require
help with the administration of medicine, hygiene, and bodily functions. What ends up happening
to these folks?
There have been 16 states that have already eliminated sub-minimum wage jobs. Has there been
a study to determine the success rates of these states? What has happened to clients that could
not be placed in the workforce? Are private companies equipped to manage workman’s
compensation claims for individuals with disabilities? Managing clients with developmental
disabilities requires the expertise of highly trained, dedicated individuals. Does the private sector
have managers with that skill set and time to manage a person that requires above average time.
These are questions that I hope this committee is asking. I would encourage that a survey be
completed by the existing customer base to determine their level of acceptance of this initiative. I
applaud your efforts to improve the lives of people with developmental disabilities. But I strongly
encourage you to completely think this through and gather as much information from the 16 states
you are trying to emulate. You may be helping a few at the expense of the many. Make sure that
you take into consideration all the clients we serve.
I sincerely thank you for your time.

Joseph J Pecchia
Retired Director: New Product Development
Millwood, Inc.

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