Les Lak is Vice President of Operations and Systems at Blasch Precision Ceramics in Albany, New York. Blasch is a manufacturer employing immigrants from countries all over the world, including Sudan, Yemen, Bosnia, and Russia. Over the past six years, Les has worked closely with the Literacy Volunteers of Rensselaer County to offer English classes to over 25 employees. This effort has netted extremely positive results among its employees. To date, six current employees have attained U.S. citizenship due in part to these classes.