Hiring With Heart: How Greensboro Businesses Are Leading the Way in Inclusive Employment
From a French café on South Elm to a dog treat bakery near Battleground Avenue, the Piedmont Triad is home to some of the most innovative inclusive employers in the state and the movement is growing fast.
Walk into Chez Genèse on a Saturday morning or stop in at A Special Blend on West Market Street, and something will strike you beyond the food and the welcome. The room feels different in a way that takes a moment to name. Look a little closer, and what you are seeing is a workplace built around a belief that most employers have not yet acted on: that adults who have historically been shut out of the workforce entirely are not only capable of doing real work, they make the whole place better.
Inclusive hiring is not a new idea. But in Greensboro it has taken root in a way that is visible, intentional, and woven into the daily life of the city. This post is about what that looks like on the ground, why it matters for neighborhoods and communities, how a growing number of North Carolina businesses are leading the way, and how the Occupational Course of Study through Guilford County Schools is preparing the next generation of workers to be part of it.
Plain Language First: A Glossary of Terms
This field has a vocabulary of its own. Before diving in, here are the terms you will encounter most often, each linked to the source or agency that defines and governs them.
Why This Matters: The Numbers Behind the Need
The gap between what adults with I/DD are capable of and what they are typically offered is one of the most persistent and underreported workforce inequities in North Carolina.
These are not people who cannot work. They are people who have not been given the chance. Employers who do give them that chance consistently report lower turnover, stronger team culture, and a customer base that is genuinely invested in the mission. According to Work Together NC, businesses that hire people with I/DD report improved workplace culture, innovation, customer loyalty, and employee retention. Inclusive hiring is not charity. It is a smart way to build a business.
Three Greensboro Businesses Doing It Right
Chez Genèse — 616 S. Elm Street, Downtown Greensboro
When Kathryn Hubert opened Chez Genèse at 616 South Elm Street in October 2018, she was not following a proven blueprint. She was building one. The name itself tells you everything: genèse is French for genesis, for new beginnings. And for every person who has come to work in that dining room, that is exactly what it has been.
Hubert, a UNCG hospitality management graduate who spent a year cooking in the Burgundy region of France, had three cousins with autism. She had worked in special education and with the Autism Society of North Carolina. She knew firsthand the gap between what people with I/DD could do and what they were typically offered. So she decided to close it, by building a restaurant around an integrated hiring model that put workers with intellectual and developmental disabilities in real roles, at real wages above minimum wage, on the floor and in the kitchen alongside everyone else.
Seven years in, the restaurant has become one of the most celebrated brunch spots in Greensboro, with a team of roughly 30 people and a dining room that fills up fast on weekends. Hubert has been direct about her reasoning: she hires people of differing abilities because she believes it is the best business decision she can make. She has also spoken publicly about the goal of hiring up to 50 percent of staff from adults with I/DD, and about her hope that the restaurant will train people not just to work at Chez Genèse but to take those skills and confidence anywhere.
Chez Genèse also operates a no-tipping policy and pays all employees above minimum wage, both of which signal how the business views the people who work there. Read more about Kathryn and the restaurant at kathrynhubert.com and follow her thinking on LinkedIn. She posts often and honestly about what it takes to run a business like this.
Chez Genèse does not take reservations. Get there early on weekends.
Visit: chezgenese.com • 616 S. Elm Street, Downtown Greensboro • (336) 663-7399 • Mon through Fri 8 AM to 2 PM • Fri evenings 6 to 10 PM • Sat and Sun 8:30 AM to 3 PM
A Special Blend — Greensboro & High Point
A Special Blend is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit coffee shop with a mission that never gets buried under marketing language: enhance and improve the quality of life for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities by providing meaningful employment and skills training in a real, public-facing community setting.
The Greensboro location on West Market Street employs adults with I/DD as baristas, cashiers, and customer service team members. The goal is never just a permanent position at A Special Blend. It is the foundation. The customer service exposure, the cash register skills, the workplace habits, the confidence that grows when someone is trusted with a real job and treated as a real professional. All of it is designed to transfer.
The model worked well enough to warrant expansion. A second location opened at 504 North Main Street in High Point, where 36 new team members were hired. Experienced Greensboro staff made the trip to train the High Point team, stepping into the role of mentor and passing along everything they had learned. That progression from student to teacher is not incidental. It is the whole point.
A Special Blend depends on community donations to support its training programs. If you want to help beyond just buying a great cup of coffee, their website makes it easy to give.
Visit: aspecialblend.org
Greensboro: 3900-C W. Market Street • (336) 763-0205 • Mon through Sat 8 AM to 5 PM • Sun 10 AM to 4 PM
High Point: 504 N. Main Street • (336) 883-2722 • Mon through Sat 8 AM to 5 PM • Sun 8 AM to 4 PM
arcBARKS Dog Treat Company — Greensboro
If you have spotted handcrafted dog treats at Lowes Foods or The Fresh Market around the Triad with a distinctive label, there is a very good chance you were already holding something made by arcBARKS without knowing it. Every treat is made by hand by adults with developmental disabilities working at the arcBARKS bakery in Greensboro.
arcBARKS was founded in 2011 as a program of The Arc of Greensboro, created in direct response to a well-documented and serious gap: when young adults with I/DD finish high school, the options for what comes next are often almost nothing. arcBARKS was designed from the start as a real business, not a simulation. A functioning dog treat bakery where employees, who call themselves chefs, handle everything from measuring ingredients and running industrial equipment to packaging and delivery.
The Arc of Greensboro has been supporting adults with disabilities since 1990 and places more than 100 adults in Greater Greensboro employment annually through partnerships with local businesses, job coaching, and vocational guidance programs. arcBARKS is among its most visible expressions. The treats ship across the United States.
Executive Director Lindy Garnette has described the philosophy directly: it is not only about supporting the people The Arc serves. It is about helping the wider community understand why it matters to have people with disabilities out in the world doing what everyone else is doing, because that is good for all of us.
Shop and visit: arcbarks.com • Retail store at 28 Battleground Court, Greensboro • Mon through Fri 9 AM to 4 PM • Parent organization: arcg.org • (336) 373-1076
The Occupational Course of Study: Preparing Students in Guilford County
What Is the OCS and Who Is It For?
The Occupational Course of Study (OCS) is one of two pathways to a North Carolina high school diploma. It is designed for students with disabilities whose IEP team determines that a vocationally oriented curriculum is the most appropriate path given the student's goals, strengths, and plans for life after graduation.
The OCS is not a lesser diploma. It is a different diploma, built around a different destination: direct employment after graduation rather than a traditional four-year college track. The curriculum has three components: standards-based academic coursework, school-based job skills training, and competitive work experience in real workplaces. To graduate, OCS students must complete 600 total hours of job training across all three levels.
That means every OCS student who walks across a graduation stage has already put in hundreds of hours in actual work settings, learning the habits, expectations, and interpersonal skills that employers need. They arrive to the workforce already practiced.
Guilford County Schools offers the OCS program at high schools throughout the district, including at Page High School here in Greensboro.
A Note on Why This Work Matters to Me Personally
Before I became a Realtor, I was a licensed special education teacher. I left teaching during the COVID years, not because I lost my commitment to students with disabilities, but because the direction of the work had shifted in ways that did not align with how I believe people are best served.
Teaching increasingly meant paperwork and online interfaces and documentation systems that kept me at a screen when I wanted to be with students. I have no passion for paperwork. I have a genuine, deep passion for building relationships with people, because that is how you actually learn what someone needs. No checklist tells you what a student is capable of. A relationship does. I left the classroom and kept the conviction.
The work I do now with OCS students at Page High School through Watsucker Urban Farm is built entirely on that conviction.
How We Partner With Page High School OCS Students on West Wendover
In the fall of 2022, four students from Page High School's OCS program began their job site experience at Joy Watson Real Estate, coming four days a week for the full school year. Through Watsucker Urban Farm, my job and life skills apprenticeship program here on West Wendover, students work and learn at the rental homes and urban farm spaces we manage as part of our short-term and traditional rental portfolio.
The work is real. Students have assembled furniture, baked sourdough treats, done landscaping and leaf clearing, gathered eggs from the chicken coop, and supported the daily operations of properties that actual guests and tenants depend on. These are not simulations. They are the community-based work experience hours the OCS curriculum requires, happening in a real neighborhood with real neighbors and real expectations.
One of the students from that first cohort wrote about the experience directly. Read their blog post here for a firsthand account of what the work felt like and what it meant.
Beyond the school-day partnership, we have also hired OCS students for paid work outside school hours. These are real jobs with real wages. Watching a student gain confidence in a genuine work setting, earning their own money and building toward independence, is among the most satisfying things I do in this business.
I have no passion for paperwork. I have a passion for building relationships with people, because that is the best way to know how to truly serve people of all learning abilities. No checklist tells you what someone is capable of. A relationship does.
If you are a business owner or property manager in Greensboro interested in offering community-based work experiences for OCS students, reach out to the Guilford County Schools Exceptional Children department or contact me directly. The logistics are manageable and the students are ready.
Inclusive Hiring Across North Carolina: A Growing Statewide Movement
Greensboro is not alone. Across North Carolina, a growing number of businesses and nonprofits are proving that this model works in many industries and many cities. Here is a look at some of the standouts.
Cakeable Café
A nonprofit workforce development program and café at 401 N. Tryon Street in Uptown Charlotte. Paid interns with I/DD train for three to six months and transition to employment in the broader community. Cakeable also runs a bakery and ships coffee nationally.
The Purple Bowl
A family-owned açaí bowl shop committed to ensuring at least 10 percent of staff are individuals with I/DD. One employee with Down syndrome has worked there for more than five years. Part of a cluster of 13 IDD-inclusive certified businesses in Chapel Hill.
Esteamed Coffee
A nonprofit coffee shop in a renovated 1940s cottage in downtown Cary, creating meaningful job opportunities for people with intellectual, developmental, communication, and visual impairments. The owner reportedly maintains a waitlist of over 30 people wanting to work there.
HANDmeUPs Thrift
A nonprofit thrift store in North Raleigh run by EngageNC, created to provide employment and volunteer opportunities for individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities. Workers master real retail tasks in a supportive environment for real wages.
Popcorn for the People
A nonprofit gourmet popcorn company run by the Let's Work for Good organization, whose entire production team is neurodiverse. Equal wages, respect, and career advancement are core values. All proceeds fund the neurodiverse workforce and expand production capacity to create more jobs.
Part & Parcel
An eco-conscious retail store in Durham that treats neurodiversity as a workplace asset rather than an accommodation. One of a growing number of Triangle businesses making inclusive hiring a core part of their identity, not a footnote.
This list is not complete. Work Together NC maintains a publicly searchable directory of recognized IDD-inclusive employers across North Carolina, from coffee shops and thrift stores to retirement communities and healthcare providers. The directory grows every month.
The Organizations and Programs Behind the Movement
Inclusive hiring in North Carolina is supported by a network of state-level initiatives and nonprofit organizations. Here are the key ones to know.
| Organization | What They Do | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Work Together NC | Statewide collaborative at UNC Chapel Hill. Free employer training, IDD Inclusive Employer certification, searchable employer directory, and transition resources for students and families. | worktogethernc.com |
| NC DHHS Inclusion Works | State initiative to expand Competitive Integrated Employment (CIE) for adults with I/DD. Provider grants, policy guidance, and direct training. | ncdhhs.gov |
| EIPD | NC Division of Employment and Independence for People with Disabilities (formerly Vocational Rehab). Helps individuals with disabilities prepare for careers and connects them with employers statewide. | ncdhhs.gov/eipd |
| The Arc of Greensboro | Places 100+ adults with I/DD in Greater Greensboro employment annually. Job coaching, supported employment, arcBARKS, and Project Search since 1990. | arcg.org |
| GCS Exceptional Children (OCS) | Guilford County Schools program overseeing the Occupational Course of Study, IEP services, and community-based work experience partnerships for students with disabilities throughout the district. | gcsnc.com |
| Disability:IN North Carolina | Business partner for disability inclusion with a free employer toolkit and resources for companies of all sizes looking to build more accessible workplaces. | di-nc.org |
What Inclusive Hiring Looks Like Day to Day
Employers who have not done this before often assume it is complicated. Most who have done it report the opposite. Work Together NC offers a free, self-paced online training that takes about two hours and leads to official IDD Inclusive Employer recognition. The barriers are lower than they look from the outside.
| Practice | What It Looks Like in Reality |
|---|---|
| Job task customization | Match specific duties to each employee's strengths rather than fitting every person into a single rigid role |
| On the job coaching | A trained job coach provides structured support during onboarding and fades over time as the employee builds confidence and independence |
| Competitive wages | Pay reflects the real value of the work. Subminimum wage settings are increasingly recognized as harmful and are being phased out in many states |
| Integrated teams | Workers with and without disabilities work side by side, not in separate or sheltered areas of the workplace |
| Clear communication | Straightforward instructions, visual aids when helpful, and consistent routines benefit every employee, not just those with I/DD |
| Skills-transfer focus | Training builds transferable skills so employees can advance within the organization or move to other employers with a real foundation under them |
What This Has to Do With Real Estate and Neighborhood Strength
A reasonable question: why is a Greensboro Realtor writing about inclusive hiring? The answer is that everything I do is rooted in the belief that Greensboro's neighborhoods are only as strong as the people and businesses that fill them.
When I help a buyer find a home in Fisher Park, College Hill, Downtown, or the Idlewood corridor, I am not just pointing them toward square footage and lot lines. I am helping them understand the character of the community they are joining: the restaurants, the coffee shops, the dog treat bakeries, the farms. The people who staff them and the owners who built them. All of it shapes what it feels like to live somewhere.
Businesses like Chez Genèse, A Special Blend, and arcBARKS are not simply amenities. They are anchors. And a neighborhood where a student from the OCS program at Page High School can walk a few blocks to a real job, earn their own money, and build toward independence is a neighborhood worth investing in. That is a real estate story. It is also just a human one.
If you are thinking about buying or selling in Greensboro, I would love to talk. And if you have never been to brunch at Chez Genèse or stopped in at A Special Blend on West Market, consider this your invitation.
Further reading: My daughter Ivy Ham is a certified clinical herbalist and natural wellness educator at ivyherbal.com. Her work on whole person health and her writing on holistic living connects to the same values that drive inclusive employment: seeing every person as complete and capable, not defined by a label.
Joy Watson Real Estate • Serving Greensboro, NC & the Piedmont Triad
(928) 699-8883 • joy@joywatsonrealestate.com
License #307423 • Firm License #C37131
joywatsonrealestate.com
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