News and notes from Imagine! and the Imagine! Foundation.
Celebrating National Disability Employment Awareness Month
Oct-12-2021
Services
To celebrate National Disability Employment Awareness Month, we sat down with some folks in Imagine!’s Employment Services and asked them about their work. Today we are joined by Otto Engel, owner of Innovation Forge, and Harper Henry, an Imagine! Employment Services client who was hired by Innovation Forge recently.
Innovation Forge is a Colorado-based blacksmithing company that specializes in creating forged metal objects that are customized to the customer’s needs. When we asked Otto what inspired him to partner with Imagine! Employment Services, he said this, “I stumbled upon blacksmithing as a teen and have been lucky enough to receive a fantastic education worldwide because of tons of welcoming and helpful mentors and friends. Now as the Instructor/ Manager of Colorado's biggest blacksmithing school and an owner of a metalsmithing business I strive to provide those opportunities, to at least try out the trade, to other people. Especially those interested in making a career out of it. Innovation Forge is a small company and it can be hard to expand and train people from scratch at the same time.”
Last year, when Imagine! reached out to Innovation Forge about Harper, they worked out a plan where she could get training and a paid work experience period with the support of Imagine!. Harper started out learning different skills and techniques including welding, forging materials, and cutting materials with a band saw.
Otto said, “As she learns new skills she immediately has ideas on how she can use them on projects, like sword and tool repairs that she has at home. This inspires all kinds of questions and really keeps me on my toes about facts and methods that we use on a daily basis.”
When we asked Harper how she liked this job, she replied “I love it! I can’t imagine working anywhere else.” She also said that her favorite part about this experience is forging.
And here’s the best news: we learned recently that Harper has been officially hired at Innovation Forge, and will start filling orders and creating parts for various projects two days a week. Otto told us, “Her blacksmithing skills and familiarity with the many machines we use have grown tremendously during her training, and now she is able to jump right in and help out with every project we produce! We are looking forward to having her around for as long as possible!”
We are so proud of Harper and her amazing progress! Thank you to Otto Engel and Innovation Forge for working with Harper and helping make her dream become a reality!
If you or a business you know would like to work with Imagine!’s Employment Services to hire folks with intellectual or developmental disabilities, you can reach out to supportedemployment@imaginecolorado.org.
