NOT USED BY DOR

Business Enterprises Program

The Business Enterprises Program (BEP) provides Department consumers, who are legally blind, opportunities to be trained in the operation of cafeterias, vending stands, and snack bars, with the ultimate goal of becoming independent food service professionals in California.

The program was created through federal legislation, the Randolph-Sheppard Act of 1936, which was enacted to "provide blind persons with remunerative employment, enlarging the economic opportunities of the blind, and stimulating the blind to greater efforts in striving to make themselves self-supporting."

BEP conducts training for blind consumers every eight months in various aspects of food service and vending machine businesses. The formal training consists of four months of classroom and two months on-the-job training. You must be a consumer of DOR and legally blind to be considered for BEP.

- Learn how to apply for services -

- Find the DOR office nearest you -

To ask a question about the Business Enterprises Program (BEP), e-mail them at bepinfo@dor.ca.gov.