SMILE Biscotti and AZ Autism Charter School's Essential Piece Entrepreneurial Program Create More Work Experiences for Adults with Autism

Place Orders During April's Autism Acceptance Month

New workforce experiences will be available for young adults with autism this summer through blending SMILE Biscotti, a private entrepreneurial venture, with Essential Piece Enterprise, a new sister entity of Arizona Autism Charter Schools. (L to R) Denise D. Resnik, First Place AZ founder and CEO; her son Matt Resnik, inspiration and face of SMILE Biscotti; Diana Diaz-Harrison, founder of Arizona Autism Charter Schools, Inc.; and her son, Sammy, who inspired the school. Photo Credit: Essential Piece Enterprises.

New workforce experiences will be available for young adults with autism this summer through blending SMILE Biscotti, a 12-year-old private entrepreneurial venture, with Essential Piece Enterprise, a newly approved vendor for Arizona’s vocational rehab services and sister entity of Arizona Autism Charter Schools (AZACS).

Matt Resnik, 33, has been the inspiration and face of SMILE, which stands for Supporting My Independent Living Enterprise. The business, created upon his graduation from high school, was designed to offer him and others meaningful, productive work opportunities.

“By transferring the business, Matt and dozens of co-workers will develop and apply new skills, be afforded more job sampling opportunities and demonstrate for our community and customers everywhere their remarkable abilities and work ethic,” said Rob Resnik, Matt’s dad.

“We’re excited to have more faces appearing throughout the SMILE operations, which is primed for expansion,” said Diana Diaz-Harrison, M.Ed., founder of Arizona Autism Charter Schools, Inc. (AZACS). Diana was inspired to start the school and vocational program by her son, Sammy.

AZACS is the first and only tuition-free, public charter network in Arizona focused on the educational needs of students with autism. AZACS serves more than 1000 students through four campuses, two K-12 schools in Central Phoenix and one in the West Valley plus the Tucson Upper Campus and a fully accredited online school.

The SMILE operation will be situated at 14th Street and Indian School, next to AZACS's largest campus which serves more than 500 families. Essential Piece will utilize the school’s commercial culinary teaching kitchen along with its own café, mail center, computer lab and more to service all biscotti mail orders.

“We aim to change the high unemployment rate for adults with autism in Arizona and across the U.S. by raising the bar on outcomes and giving people everywhere something to smile about,” said Denise D. Resnik, Matt’s mom, Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center (SARRC) cofounder and First Place AZ founder and CEO.

The new work experiences for adults with autism will begin this summer. (L to R) Denise D. Resnik, First Place AZ founder and CEO; her son Matt Resnik, inspiration and face of SMILE Biscotti; Diana Diaz-Harrison, founder of Arizona Autism Charter Schools, Inc.; and her son, Sammy, who inspired the school. Photo Credit: Essential Piece Enterprises.

“Matt mastered egg cracking, measuring and mixing long ago, now he’s applying his math and computational skills and taking on Excel spreadsheets with the support of Essential Piece,” she added.  

Essential Piece Enterprises is now enrolling students for summer and fall Vocational Rehab (VR) services. SMILE is serving as one of many ingredients in the mix which includes community partners, such as UHAUL and Banner Health. Among the services offered are Work Adjustment Training (WAT), Job Training (JT) and Career Exploration (CE) services. Programs are individualized based on graduates' job and career interests and strengths.

“Families like ours know it’s not easy to fill 168 hours of meaningful, productive activity every week for kids after high school graduation,” said Denise.

“Far too many transition from a learning environment to a couch and slide backward. We are not letting that happen!” added Diaz-Harrison.

Please do your part by placing online orders during April's Autism Acceptance Month and every day of the year at www.smilebiscotti.com.

Check out this enrollment interest form and register your interest by May 15. Contact Megan Vincent with questions at mvincent@autismcharter.org.

About SMILE Biscotti

SMILE Biscotti is an entrepreneurial bakery business founded by Matt Resnik and his parents in 2013. SMILE, which stands for Supporting My Independent Living Enterprise, was created to help Matt and others like him who are impacted by autism, make advancements in life skills development, social connections and pathways toward greater independence. Visit www.smilebiscotti.com for more information about SMILE’s next chapter in collaboration with Essential Piece Enterprise.

About Arizona Autism Charter Schools, Inc.

Arizona Autism Charter School (AZACS) opened in the fall of 2014 as the state’s first tuition-free, public charter school focused on students with autism. Our mission is to educate students with autism and related disorders using evidence-based strategies grounded in the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). The goal is to make this educational option accessible and tuition-free to students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the state of Arizona and beyond. Visit www.autismcharter.org to learn more.

About Essential Piece Enterprises

Essential Piece Enterprises is a sister non-profit of Arizona Autism Charter Schools. This center provides job and career-readiness programming for high school graduates on the autism spectrum. The Entrepreneurial Training Center houses four innovative community-facing businesses: a Coffee Shop, a Silk Screening/Retail Shop, a Shipping/Receiving Store, and a Tech Repair/AV Studio. The workforce training programs at Essential Piece Enterprises are approved by Vocational Rehabilitation Services for clients who qualify.