Custom cabinet shop honored for hiring, training disabled employee

Corporate Giving story for The Commercial Appeal

January 9, 2009

At Worx of Wood, a high-end custom cabinet and millwork shop in Cordova, men with earplugs cut and hammer among splintered wood, pre-stained doors and unassembled mantelpieces; it’s a possibly dangerous landscape for even the most alert carpenter.

But Gene Roberson, who is deaf and developmentally challenged, moves through it with the facility of an old pro.

Roberson has worked for owner Ron Morrison and his partners for three years, sweeping sawdust, cleaning restrooms, catching ripped boards off the saw and, occasionally, assembling drawers … (read more)