AUBURN — Scott McMullin figured he’d never get a manufacturing job.

A brain injury as a boy made it tough for him to keep a job with complicated tasks. He had worked as a construction site flag operator, a telemarketer, a firefighter and a certified nurse’s aide.

“I’m the kind of individual who panics when he hears the word ‘test,'” said McMullin, 53, who lives in Lewiston. But he overcame his anxiety when a new job — tailored for him and other people with disabilities — was created at Tambrands.

“Now, I have to watch out for being run over by a robot!” McMullin said.

The Procter & Gamble maker of Tampax tampons created a packaging facility in a corner of its 60-acre Auburn property. It’s designed as a place for workers to fill custom orders.

It’s also a pilot project closely watched by the multinational corporation. When the new center is completed, it will employ 60 people. Eighteen jobs have been earmarked for people with disabilities.

On Tuesday, a corporate ribbon-cutting ceremony was attended by executives and leaders from state and local government.

“We want to ensure that everyone is valued and everyone is included,” said Linda Clement-Holmes, Procter & Gamble’s chief diversity officer.

The idea of creating a place for people with a variety of disabilities originally came from Walgreens, which employs people with different abilities in its distribution facilities.

Procter & Gamble began looking at the idea two years ago and approached the Auburn plant’s supervisors last year.

One thing they learned quickly was that finding a place for people with disabilities didn’t cost a lot of money, Auburn Plant Manager Felica Coney said. Neither specialized equipment nor much extra supervisory help was needed.

“There’s nothing really different,” Coney said. The people are held to the same standards and earn the same pay and benefits as other workers. Allowances are made in terms of training, the complexity of the skills and the work hours. Many work on a part-time basis.

Plans are already in the works for another pilot project or two, Clement-Holmes said. And outside companies have already begun inquiring about following P&G’s path.

Robert Winglass, Maine’s commissioner of labor, was among the people who toured the plant Tuesday.

Currently, 120,000 Maine adults have disabilities and about 62 percent are unemployed, he said.

He challenged other companies to help people with disabilities.

“This should be a launch pad,” Winglass said.

Kay Bond of Auburn agreed.

She began working at Tambrands in 1999 when she concluded a career in the U.S. Navy.

But back problems plagued her until, in 2005, she was forced to leave the company.

“I couldn’t stand it anymore,” she said.

For six years, she collected disability pay until a few months ago, when a worker at Tambrands called and offered her a job in the new FlexiCenter.

“I was ecstatic,” Bond said.

She talked to her doctor, who recommended that she work no more than 20 hours a week. Bond began more than a month ago, completing six-hour shifts while she wore a back brace and used a rolling walker to keep her upright.

Her job includes looking over custom orders and making sure products are packed properly, often onto a single pallet.

She has a workweek again and earns a paycheck. It means money and self-esteem.

For some, it’s a new feeling.

Tuesday’s ceremony was completed when 20-year-old Daniel Twitchell of South Paris took the scissors and made the final slice in the thick, blue ribbon.

For Twitchell, who has Down syndrome, work at the factory means he has a different role in society, said his father, Arnold.

“He’s employed,” Arnold Twitchell said. “He’s contributing, rather than just receiving.”

Tambrands is one of Procter and Gamble’s two Tampax factories and the only one in North America. It employs 447 people in Auburn.

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