Special Faces, Worcester shoelace business, sees special needs workers as valuable employees

WORCESTER – For Bruce Carter, starting a business that hired people with special needs had always been a wish. He needed just the right source of inspiration for it to become reality.

That happened Thursday when Special Faces, a shoelace business that hires people some might consider unemployable such as people with intellectual or physical disabilities, moved into warehouse space at 99 Prescott St.

The 5,000-square-foot space is in one of the red-brick buildings in Gateway Park, only a burger bite away from Ralph’s Diner.

While the main thrust of the business will be sorting and packaging, Carter said the shoelaces will be outsourced from companies from around the country.

Carter’s daughter, who has Down syndrome, will be part of the team.

“Having a kid with Down syndrome, you realize how much they’re capable of,” said Carter, 69.

How it came together

Carter, who lives in Worcester and has worked as an insurance broker for more 35 years at InterContinental Insurance Brokers, said inspiration for the business came serendipitously while golfing in Kennebunkport, Maine, when he saw former U.S. President George H. W. Bush pass by.

Struck by the president’s colorful socks, Carter pointed them out to the Secret Service officers who were trailing the president.

The former president, whose family famously vacationed at an estate in Kennebunkport, was known for his fondness for quirky socks – some of which were made by a company co-founded by a man with Down syndrome.

“I said to myself, ‘Someday I'd like to start a business with my daughter,’” said Carter. “I wanted to start a business, but I had no idea what it would be.”

The idea came in 2019, while Carter, who was cleaning his garage, noticed how none of the laces on his four daughters' sports shoes “were cool.”

Plan put in place

Carter said he contacted friends with entrepreneurial pull who would become business partners. Although dampened for a few years by the pandemic, the idea materialized this year.

The space where Special Faces will kick off its assembly lines in the next couple of months needs renovatios before it can come alive with colorful designs.

Currently the business is taking presale orders only, with some of the designs featuring the American flag, tie-dyed colors and flannel patterns.

“We’re excited to get going and start,” said Carter. “We’re ready to rock.”

Carter's daughter, Brooke, will hold the title of "chief fun officer." Carter said Brooke, who is 36, has worked at Starbucks for 17 years.

Carter said his daughter will not trade the barista’s apron for shoelace designs. She will hold both positions: "She loves it there," he said of Starbucks.

Sean Fair, the CEO of Special Faces, said the organization is looking to hire around 70 to 100 people within 60 days. About half the employees will be people with intellectual special needs and half will have physical disadvantages including disabled veterans.

“We're trying to employ the previously unemployable or the folks that didn't fit into the traditional box,” said Fair. “We really want to give them a true job, not a charity but a real working above minimum wage paying job.”

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Worcester shoelace business sees special needs workers as valuable employees