He’s been a maintenance worker, a landscaper, a bakery worker, a dishwasher, a hospital worker and a zoo employee. But 24-year-old Tony Fuhrman has never found in those jobs what he wants most: a full-time career.
“All of these jobs were a year or two,” he said. “I loved the jobs. I just couldn’t stay at them.”
That’s because they were either temporary or gave Tony no potential to develop a career. Living with several disabilities, Tony has seen employers who are hesitant to give him a chance.
“Not all employers are receptive to different kinds of folks,” said Tony’s mother Mary Fuhrman.
Tony is hearing-impaired and vision-impaired. His cognitive function is high, however “the joints and the muscles do not communicate consistently with the brain,” Mary said.
Looking for an opportunity for her son, Mary’s friend told her about a new company offering jobs and training to people with special needs. That company is focused on Colorado’s rapidly-growing craft brewing industry. Being not too fond of beer, at first, Tony was hesitant.
“I figured ‘you know what? It’ll get me working. I’ll go ahead and try it,’” he said. “It turned into the best thing I’ve experienced.”
Tony began working with Brewability Lab. The small brewery can employ up to eight people with special needs (age 21 and over), teaching them the brewing process from start to finish. Focused on removing the stigma of a disability, the company’s name is based on creating an ability… to brew.
“I feel like everyone has an ability,” said Brewability Lab founder Tiffany Fixter. “We found a really great niche for people who have special needs. A lot of times, you focus on what they can’t do. And we want to focus on what they can do.”
Fixter is a former special education teacher who also worked with adults in day programs. It was while doing that work that she and Toby Gerard, head brewer, realized that there weren’t many opportunities for adults with special needs.
“We really just saw a need for employment. Out of the 100-some odd clients we had, only very few had jobs,” Fixter said.
She created Brewability Lab to try to provide that opportunity. In late 2015, the company raised $32,000 in 30 days to purchase a brewery at Interstate 70 and Peoria Street. They’re currently running an Indiegogo campaign to continue funding the brewery and its full-time employees.
Gerard knows that, to some people, blending the special needs population with beer brewing may seem ill-fitting.
“It’s not something you would normally see put together. But, in my mind, it makes perfect sense,” he said.
He also notes that the employees with special needs are well-suited to learn the brewing process, which includes a color-coded system that employee learn after first undergoing an assessment to make sure they’re capable of completing the tasks.
“This population is great at detail-oriented tasks,” he said, “making sure it’s a really good, consistent product they’re putting out.”
FIxter wants the employees to use their in-demand skills to create their own career paths, whether it’s with Brewability or another brewery.
“We just want them to be happy,” she said.
Tony Fuhrman is happy knowing that he may, one day, be able to move to his own apartment and take care of himself by earning a livable wage. He likens the experience to baby birds who learn to fly.
“If animals can be that independent when they’re a little baby. I think by the time I’m 24, I should be able to do it too,” he said.
