WASHINGTON -- Julie Williard, 25, is one of the top performers in her division filling orders from local stores at the Walgreens distribution center in Windsor, Conn., She is also deaf.

Williard says she was more accustomed to being bullied than encouraged before she started at the center, her first full-time job. "It just brought the happiness into my life," she says. "Right now I have tons of friends."

What makes this job different is that the facility, which opened in 2009, was built with the needs of people with a range of disabilities in mind. The workplace removes obstacles to success, by offering touchscreens, adjustable work stations and images and symbols to illustrate functions. About half the workers at the center have a disability, and they are expected to compete with all of their colleagues. Making the accommodations cost Walgreens an average of $50 per worker.

The nation's governors have turned their attention to helping more people like Williard find jobs and building partnerships with companies like Walgreens that are willing to help accommodate people once considered unemployable. The National Governors Association (NGA) is targeting the issue this year and will make recommendations in an August report. The aim is to come up with plans that provide workers with disabilities not only a paycheck, but also a deeper sense of purpose and belonging.

Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, NGA chair, says he chose this issue after meeting a disabled Bank of America employee who made T-shirts and other promotional materials. Markell says he was moved by the pride the employee took in his work and asked what he had been doing before he got the job. "He sat at home for six years watching TV with his parents," Markell told Stateline.

According to the NGA, the U.S. spends about $300 billion annually to support unemployed workers with disabilities, while 67 percent of working-age people with disabilities would rather have a job than be unemployed and unproductive.

Nationally, more than 30 percent of the adult population receiving income-based government assistance through programs such as Medicaid and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families has a disability, according to a recent report from the Census Bureau. One in three adults with disabilities, ages 18 to 64, were employed in 2011, compared with three out of four adults without a disability.

State governments have taken a variety of steps to help these workers find jobs. Connecticut's state vocational rehabilitation agency, for example, works closely with Walgreens to identify people with disabilities who might be a good fit for the program and provides ongoing support for employees who are struggling to adapt.

"(Walgreens) didn't ask for much," Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy told fellow governors in February at the NGA's winter meeting in Washington, D.C. "The one change that we had to make in Connecticut is we put a bus stop at their front door." The state also provides funding for the training program through a nonprofit partner, Community Enterprises.

Delaware's Markell signed "Employment First" legislation in July requiring state agencies that provide services to people with disabilities to push jobs that are in an integrated setting as the first choice. A work group is also focusing on state hiring practices with the goal of advancing recruitment, retention and career advancement opportunities for people with disabilities. "States can be model employers themselves," he says.