Spotlight on Inclusivity: Covid Business Special Needs by Yvonne Wright
JACK’S & STEAMERS “When the pandemic hit, that just turned everybody’s world upside down.” Luke Davidson is one of the millions of employees impacted by COVID-19. While the epidemic is hard on everyone, it’s been especially hard for Colorado workers with special needs. Davidson is employed by one of two local businesses that hire employees with developmental disabilities. Like other small, locally owned businesses, they’re struggling this holiday season to stay afloat. Many aren’t even looking for a profit. They just want to break even so they can keep their doors open until the pandemic ends. For many with special needs, this is the first opportunity they’ve had to work and make money. For most, it’s more than a paycheck. It’s where they go to meet friends and feel good about their contributions. “I’m more than thankful. I’m excited to work,” he says. Davidson has worked at Jack’s & Steamers for 10 years. The Arvada bar and grill employs dozens of special needs employees. Davidson used to work making the gourmet jams and jellies they sell online. The restrictions brought him into the kitchen where he now works washing dishes. “We are like a family. All of us,” he says. When I ask him about his supervisor, his response is not one you would hear in most companies. While he acknowledges his bosses can be frustrating, the depth of his feelings for them is so strong he needed to take a break. “I get emotional,” he says while choking back tears. “We have arguments; we have debates, but Garrett has that passion about his work. How he cares about people makes me want to work more.” Davidson is talking about Garrett McGovern, a manager there for the last 10 years. McGovern describes the business as a brain trust. When the closures were first put in place in April, McGovern says everyone gathered that night. “We formed our plan of attack, and were re-open within a day with delivery and a take-out menu for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.” It wasn’t easy. After a lot of trial and error, they figured out how to streamline online and phone-in orders so food would be hot and ready when customers came to pick it up. “We had 500 dinners out of the blue [the first night] … at 6:00, I had 75 orders all at once; the cooks knew they had 15 minutes to get the orders out, and there was just no way.” McGovern says it took about a month to get all the kinks worked out, and he said the latest round of shutdowns are going great. 1 4 \\ D E C E M B E R 9 , 2 0 2 0
