TYLER, Texas — Factories that make the products that keep businesses running during the pandemic have had lots of opportunities. Horizon Industries in Tyler is one of them. But while products come rolling off the line, opportunity might be the most impactful thing it makes.
“We primarily make paper wiping towels for an industrial environment,” Mitch Erwin, Horizon Industries’ production and safety manager, explained. “So real thick, hearty paper wiping towels, pop ups, tri folds, things that you might see on a restaurant table, but most of our products are going straight to the U.S. military. And so they're using them on things like aircraft carriers, or mess holes, or on a lot of their machinery.”
It also makes parachute cord for the military. Jared Sebren had childhood dreams of enlisting to be a sniper, “so it's nice getting to do something to where I can, you know, kind of contribute to helping them out,” he said.
Sebren has risen to the rank of machine operator during his five years at Horizon Industries, his first factory job. He recalls being, “a little nervous at first,” he said. “I just, I've never been around it before. I've never done anything like it before. But after I got used to everything, I really enjoyed it.
“And we're the line leaders for the entire line that we're on,” he added about being a machine operator. “So we help out where we need to and try and get them wherever they need to on the rest of the line.”
If his coworkers need help, it is understandable.
“We have just under 80 employees right now, I believe about 45 on the production floor or supporting production,” Erwin said. “And, let's see, I think we have about 23 of those are blind or visually impaired.”
Horizon Industries is part of East Texas Lighthouse for the Blind, a non-profit that provides education and training to people who are blind or visually-impaired. The factory makes enough money to fund all the client services programs for East Texas Lighthouse for the Blind, making it a rare, self-funding non-profit.
To win federal contracts to supply the military, Horizon Industries has to be nationally-competitive on pricing, speed, and quality. But even with all the chemicals, machinery, and tripping hazards on the factory floor, Erwin said the company has not lost a single man-hour to injury in five years.
“In fact, over the years, we have won several state and federal safety awards,” he said with pride, “because we have such low accident injury rates. And so I would argue that our blind people do it better than then some of the others.”
The factory uses some adaptive technology to help its blind employees, as well as features such as textured walkways to help blind workers navigate the building. Erwin said Horizon Industries is the first full-time job some of the workers have help. He claimed that the pay and benefits are better than some other local factories, so, in conjunction with the personal skills gained through East Texas Lighthouse for the Blind, it has changed the lives of many of its employees.
“All of a sudden,” he explained, “there was a new path forward, where, you're experiencing a problem being successful in the workplace? Hey, we have an answer for that. We have assistive technology, we have orientation and mobility, we have independent living.”
Erwin said Sebren is a prime example of the transformative impact a job at Horizon Industries can have for someone with a visual impairment. “Jared has had the initiative, that drive, the ability to be able to learn the things he needs to learn to be successful in that position,” he said. “So we're definitely really proud to have him and proud that he represents that specific job as the only blind person who does it.”
Sebren explained that it is not just his title, but that everything has changed for him these last five years. He lived with his Dad in Houston and said the job market did not want to find a place for him. “There's been times,” he recalled, “where I've tried working at places and we, you know, write on (the application) that I’m visually impaired and they kind of have to pass on me because they don't, I guess, want the liability.”
When his father got married, they moved to Tyler and discovered East Texas Lighthouse for the Blind and Horizon Industries. Sebren said there is nothing like it in Houston. “It's helped me grow mature more than anything has,” he stated. “Before I was working out here, I was just working three hours a day at a clothing store just stocking shelves and stuff.
“I lived with my dad for the longest time, just living with him, and when I started working out here, I was able to get my own apartment and slowly get to the point where I could buy my own house and bought the car I've always wanted and just be able to live the life that I have.”
Sebren and his girlfriend are expecting their first child before the end of the month. He said he could see himself working at Horizon Industries for a long time, but he would also like to move over to East Texas Lighthouse for the Blind and teach mobility training.
He has a new sense of optimism and hope, thanks to a company and organization that see value in people who are often overlooked.