When people hear the term “merger,” they often envision layoffs and major changes that can shake up the core of a company. For CranstonArc and People in Partnership, Inc., however, it’s been business as usual.

“It’s been a pretty smooth transition,” said PIP Executive Director Patricia Murray. “I can think of only positive things that will happen.”

The two organizations officially merged in July after several years of batting the idea around. Murray said she has collaborated with Arc for the last 15 years, and this year moved the merger conversation forward.

“It really never came to fruition until this past spring. I think we both saw the writing on the wall that because of the economic position of the state, things weren’t getting any better,” Murray said.

CranstonArc provides support and services to individuals with developmental disabilities. People in Partnership is no stranger to that population, but provides job training and placement to a wider clientele as well, including through its welfare to work program. The courses are small and offer personalized attention to clients. CranstonArc’s President and CEO Tom Kane hopes to tap into that base.

“It’s a different group of people we have the opportunity to help. That provides a great enhancement to who we are as an organization,” he said.

In today’s difficult economic climate, he believes the more pressing issue is giving people a helping hand – including those who are just down on their luck.

“Whether you have a developmental disability or you’re trying to work your way out of the welfare system, you should be able to go into a job training class with other people who want to get back to work,” said Kane.

PIP offers job training to residents statewide in areas such as office management, human services, sales and retail and Certified Nursing Assistant training, which has seen a major increase in demand of late. Kane would like to see these opportunities expanded to the population CranstonArc serves.

“The integration piece is, I think, critical,” he said.

The clients aren’t the only ones benefiting from the merger, either. While CranstonArc has a formidable workforce, People in Partnership has only four full-time staff members, with a total of 12 people involved in the company. With a program offered to the entire state, lack of staff and funding has proved challenging.

“Now, because we have a bigger resource for people and funding, we’ll be able to expand, hopefully,” Murray said. “We’ll be able to tap into more people.”

While it’s PIP that is gaining a much broader resource base, Kane believes it’s a win-win situation.

“I think one of the big pluses of the merger is that People in Partnerships has huge potential for growth. Pat had great ideas but not the funding or the staff to put them into action,” he said. “We know there’s tremendous value in knowing that People in Partnerships services are able to continue.”

The PIP main offices will remain in Pawtucket, with a satellite office in the Eleanor Slater Hospital. There, clients man the gift shop and also provide door-to-door catering to hospital employees.

With the merger complete, finance and human services will be centralized for both organizations at CranstonArc. Previously, one PIP employee managed both departments. Coincidentally, Murray explained, that employee was retiring and therefore no one lost his or her job due to the merger.

Kane said assuring his staff of that was crucial in making the transition a smooth one. Literature was sent out to both companies and Kane hosted informational sessions to answer questions about the decision.

“We tried to make sure everyone had the information up front,” he said.

Still, the management staff meets once every two weeks to share ideas and concerns, and Kane sees every senior manager once a month to talk about the organization’s progress.

Murray believes the merger will grow PIP by leaps and bounds. Kane agreed, adding that it was a natural progression for the organizations in order to adapt to their changing environment.

“It’s tough in this economy to think about growth,” he said, “but contraction isn’t really an option.”