Tara Salazar yanks freshly labeled cans of chili beans off the conveyor belt as fast as her long fingernails will let her.
If the label is properly glued in place, she places that can in a plastic bin. The rejects — cans sans labels or ones with edges flapping — get booted from the belt.
Salazar, a 35-year-old mother of three who’s seen her share of hard knocks, is one week into the 12-week training program at the new FoodWorks cannery in an east Denver industrialized area.
FoodWorks Colorado, a life-skills and vocational-training agency, started the cannery business a few months ago and is up and processing 3,000 cans of chili a week.
The nonprofit’s former business model accepted surplus and unsold produce that vocational students boxed for pick-up by hunger-relief agencies. But five years ago, FoodWorks saw the fresh-food supply line drying up, which prompted the creation of a new plan to ensure the company’s survival.
FoodWorks opted to build the cannery, which could supply nonperishable chili beans and rice to food banks, while training its clients in skills needed to re-enter the workforce as manufacturing-company employees.
The cannery also produces vegetable soup in vacuum-sealed bags, and boxed “combo packs” of six cans of chili along with a large bag of rice.
FoodWorks clients learn all aspects of the cannery business as part of their training program, which includes two to three hours a day in the classroom learning life skills.
“We teach them to show up to work and do a good job,” said Greg Morton, FoodWorks vice president of communications. “We teach them grooming, personal finance, how to talk to a boss. We want to remove barriers to full-time employment.”
Salazar, who lives with her children in transitional housing, wants to be a certified fork-lift operator when she graduates from FoodWorks.
“I don’t mind working hard,” she said.
Google him. Chipotle Mexican Grill founder Steve Ells was deemed worthy of inclusion in ‘s Top 25 American Food Entrepreneurs. But spelling his name right? Not so much. Gourmet noted Wednesday that Steve “Ellis” founded the Denver-based fast-casual restaurant chain in 1993.
Chipotle officials, while appreciative of the honor, tweeted, “It’s nice to be on the list, even if they did get his name wrong.”
Shortly after Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold sent a note to Gourmet, the errant spelling was corrected.
Black-tie biz bash. Tickets are on sale for the 51st annual Downtown Denver Awards, a black-tie affair, beginning at 5:30 p.m. (cash bar), followed by dinner and program from 7 to 9:30 May 30 at the Hyatt Regency Denver at Colorado Convention Center. Tickets can be had at: .
Political party. Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum, campaigning in Colorado on Monday, dined at Elway’s Cherry Creek with a group of supporters.
EavesdroppingA little girl talking to her grandma in a department store:
“My other grandma says we need to find a racer-back suit because that’s as racy as it gets. I don’t know what that means, but she said to tell you.”
Penny Parker’s column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Call her at 303-954-5224 or e-mail pparker@denverpost.com; follow her at .
