Igor

Igor has made quite an impact on the employees of his workplace, Shaft’s Cheese and Co. They consider him a ball of light and exclaim with praise ringing in their voices, “Igor is the man!” Since he began working at Shaft’s in June 2025, Igor has made it a mission to improve his production and achieve his goals. In August 2025, Igor was awarded Employee of the Month for his fantastic work effort, astounding production speed, and positive demeanor. As a prize for his honor, Igor received a gift card.

Shaft’s Cheese and Co. is contracted by PRIDE Industries, a vendor of Alta California Regional Center. Contracted workplaces give clients the opportunity to integrate into the workforce with full-time employment. Through PRIDE, clients work with a “job coach” who helps them develop the skills necessary while on the job. Igor has worked closely with his job coach over the past couple of months to improve.

At Shaft’s, Igor spends his 8-hour workdays packaging cheeses or stuffing products. One of the products Igor has especially mastered is stuffing olives with cheese, which are gathered into buckets before the formal packaging. When he first started, Igor struggled with staying on task and would be easily distracted, which would affect his ability to fill a bucket of stuffed olives. However, he set a goal to fill two buckets a day, to then three, and then four. Each goal he has surpassed and has increased his production speed to five buckets a day! Igor is very proud of his new ability in focusing and how that has positively impacted his work.

In the span of two months, work has grown Igor into a goal-driven and accomplished person. He enjoys working hard and doing manual labor at his job. After a hard day’s work, Igor likes to unwind by playing video games on his computer. Igor is satisfied with his work life and hopes to continue gaining independence.