In 1961 a group of Santa Maria Valley parents organized to obtain services for their adult children with mental retardation. The resulting Santa Maria Association for the Retarded was incorporated in 1962 and provided life skills training, first in a small house and later in a former utilities building in Santa Maria. With 1969 came the purchase of 5 acres on "A" Street in Santa Maria and a new name, North Santa Barbara County Rehabilitation Center. By 1980 services had evolved to embrace increased employment opportunities for people with disabilities, and we became Vocational Training Center. In the 1990s we began offering employment services to people with mental illness, and in the early 2000s to those who are deaf/hearing impaired or blind/visually impaired. By 2001, we were no longer a center-based organization, instead operating many “enterprising” community-based programs and business operations throughout the Central Coast. Our mission is to youth and adults with disabilities or other limitations in choosing and achieving their life goals. VTC Enterprises believes that people with disabilities should have lifelong opportunities to explore and achieve their personal life goals. Every day, we provide individualized employment and life skills training services to individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities to help them fully engage in their public and private lives. Because it is when every person has choices and knows they are valued that a community can be its best and strongest. KEY PERSONNEL: CEO- Jason Telander