Forge City Works has one sentence that guides all of its day-to-day operations.
“Food on a mission to create opportunity.”
The Hartford-based non-profit, founded in 2007, operates several food-based businesses to provide job training and food access programs to the Hartford community. In addition to operating the popular Fire by Forge restaurant at 539 Broad St., the non-profit operates The Grocery on Broad Street in a joint venture with CT Food Share.
Forge City Works also provides catering and food service at The Lyceum Conference and Event Center in Frog Hollow.
The non-profit has been named one of Greater Hartford’s Top Workplaces in the Courant program for the first time, following the opening of the non-profit’s new grocery store earlier this year. The recognition is based on employee surveys conducted by Energage, as well as information about the non-profit’s employee programs and benefits.
The non-profit placed in the small-size category and has 80 employees.
“First it is the mission, we’re a non-profit whose mission is investing in the community through job training and fighting food insecurity. Our businesses help drive that mission, so I think it gives a sense of purpose to what we do,” said Forge City Works Executive Director Ben Dubow.
“The second piece of that is we take very seriously the culture around here. We talk about VIPs serving VIPs and we want to give VIP customer service. But on the flip side, we also talk about how we are all working with VIPs. This is one of our non-negotiables we added.”
The non-profit has seven workplace culture “non-negotiables” that make it special in the non-profit world. Dubow said these seven principles guide the non-profit’s work day-to-day and are constantly reviewed in team meetings. New hires and trainees must also know them. They include:
1. Acknowledgement & Accountability
2. Clarity is Kind & Kindness Always Wins
3. DEIB is in our DNA: Diversity. Equity. Inclusion. Belonging.
4. Life-Work Balance: We are all more than our jobs.
5. Mission-Driven Teamwork: Many hands make for lighter work. By embracing the power of collaborative teamwork, we can accomplish so much more than we’ll ever do individually.
6. We Welcome You: FCW supports each individual and embraces all that makes each person unique.
7. VIPs working with VIPs: We have a “hospitality” culture for our customers and employees alike.
“FCW has a people-centric, people-first culture,” Dubow said. “We really focus on helping develop people as part of the team and we value everyone’s input. I like to talk about the tyranny of the right idea. In other words, if someone has the right idea, it doesn’t matter where on the org chart they are. If the dishwasher has the right idea, the right idea wins. I think people really value that kind of work culture, where everyone has their voice heard and is respected.”
The nonprofit’s job training program also helps employ dozens of Greater Hartford youth between the ages of 18 and 26 each year, leaders said. Participants learn culinary and customer service skills though classroom and in-person learning over a 16-week program culminating in what they said is sustainable employment in the Hartford area.
The total job training lasts 18 months with three different levels including the initial 16-week program focused on core skills and then an internship at either Fire by Forge, The Grocery on Broad or at The Lyceum, Dubow said. After the internship program, participants are encouraged to apply for jobs in the local area while still being able to receive mentoring. Dubow said there are approximately 60 Hartford residents in job training programs this summer.
“I’ve mentored about 60 trainees myself,” said Fire by Forge Executive Chef Miguel Alvarez.
“To this day, I still reach out to some of them and they reach out to me. The mission is what really sets this place apart. I’ve been cooking for over 16 years and this is the first place where I can do my job and give back to the community. I’ve been able to help individuals who have difficulty finding employment and give them the skills they need to succeed in life. As a Hartford resident, it’s good to see them go back into the community and be successful. ”
The restaurant, a Pan-American inspired, chef-driven concept that includes a café, full-service restaurant and bar, charges an 18% service charge on all tabs. Included in that service charge, 5% goes towards a revenue share that directly goes into the pockets of the restaurant’s employees and 1% goes to an emergency fund for all the employees. The remainder of the service charge is used to provide access to benefits and paid time off, leaders said.
“I think the work we’ve done around equity and compensation really makes a big difference on the work culture,” Dubow said. “All of our employees are making more than minimum wage from the dishwasher to our case managers. Our customers also know that their money is directly benefiting our trainees and employees. The feedback we get is overwhelmingly positive from our customers.”
Logan Carruba, a case manager on the job training team, said that the culture is so positive among staff members, that he can’t envision himself working anywhere else. Carruba, who first started at the non-profit in 2017 as a barista, left briefly during the pandemic. But he said he reapplied as a case manager last year because he was drawn again to the “amazing culture.”
“I came on as a barista and worked until the restaurant got shut down during COVID. When I first started, I was there just to make a couple bucks, but the mission and culture quickly grows on you. It’s hard not to be involved with the mission,” Carruba said.
“I want to work here for as long as I possibly can. I’m actually in the last year of my master’s program to become a therapist. But even after I graduate, I want to stay here and see if I can transform my role a little bit. The turnover is very low here and a lot of people who leave end up coming back. You’re hard pressed to find another place like it.”
Stephen Underwood can be reached at sunderwood@courant.com