Intro 00:00

Welcome to the You Can’t Take it With You show where we feature stories around generosity designed to inspire and encourage others to do meaningful things in their communities. Now, here’s your host, Jim Dunlop.

Jim Dunlop 00:16

Hi. Jim Dunlop here, a wealth advisor and host of this show, where I sit down with people who get it when it comes to generosity. I’m excited to have guests who can give us stories on generosity to not only inspire our listeners, but to give practical ideas on ways we can give. Today’s guest is Roger Haney. Past guests include Jim Langley, Phil Cubeta, and Janet Riggs. Before we get to Roger, though, I want to share that this episode is brought to you by Advent Partners, Ready for good. Advent is a financial planning team dedicated to helping you make informed decisions that simplify your financial journey. At Advent Partners, we’re ready for good. Our bold ten year vision to help clients. Our bold ten year vision is to help clients donate $100 million dollars to transform lives through generosity and planning. United by generosity, relationships, excellence, authenticity, and fun, we empower meaningful lives and lasting community impact. To learn more about Advent Partners and how we can guide your financial success, visit readyforgood.com just in the last week, our clients have given away more than $100,000 to organizations and causes important to them in their communities. It’s exciting for us to partner with our clients and be in the front row to witness incredible generosity. Before introducing today’s guest, I want to give a big thank you to Carolyn Keller, who introduced us to Roger. Go check out her website at curio412.com. Whether you’re a company looking for a strategy to give back to your community, or a nonprofit looking to elevate your mission, Curio 412 would love to help amplify your impact. So now let me introduce today’s guest. Roger Haney is the Founder and President of Spectrum Fudge. Previously having a career in healthcare administration for almost 15 years he changed directions and he and his wife, Erin, purchased a fudge and chocolate company with the hopes of providing a transition plan for their son Jake, who is autistic. Jake is currently 14 and not yet working at Spectrum Fudge, however, this has not stopped them from growing. Currently, 33% of their workforce are individuals with special needs. Their goal is simple provide work opportunities to individuals with autism and special needs. Spectrum Fudge wants to become the leader in Recognized Fudge and confectionery company of Pennsylvania, and eventually the United States, as well as employment opportunities. Spectrum Fudge is also currently partnered with nine different high schools and voluntary programs for adults with special needs. Roger, welcome. I’m excited to talk to you today. And as we kick off here, can you take just a few minutes and tell me a little bit about who you are?

Roger Haney 02:48

Well, thank you for having me, Jim. I’m very excited to be here today. I guess a little bit about who I am. So I grew up in a little town in western Pennsylvania, and as a child of a very close family, you know, we were involved in a lot of things together. I guess I was like many individuals, I, you know, I played sports and got along with a lot of activities. But from an early age, I really was connected by individuals that had special needs. There was an individual in my high school who I got to be pretty close with, and I helped him with various Special Olympics events, and he joined the football team and the hockey team to be our water boy. Just because he enjoyed my company and our friendship. So it really was awesome. And you know, as life, as life went on and I grew out of high school and moved into college. I lost contact with this individual. And started my career. But it’s funny how life goes full circle sometimes. As years later, I found myself having a child with special needs and quickly kind of coming back into what life is like and knowing somebody with varying abilities. So my family is still all around western Pennsylvania and everybody participates in spectrum fudge. It’s definitely a family affair as we are looking to continue to grow our company. So it’s it’s fun and it’s really become a labor of love.

Jim Dunlop 04:21

So I do want to get into a little bit about Spectrum Fudge here in a moment. Before we do that, can we take a step further back? You gave a little bit of a preview to this in your autobiography, but what would be your personal generosity origin story?

Roger Haney 04:40

My personal generosity story probably goes back to, like I said, when I was in high school, being touched by an individual with special needs and just how how special they can be. And then that kind of transcended into having a son and wanting to have something for him when he’s older and worried about the unemployment rate and underemployment rate of these individuals that are about 85% and not sure where his future is going to be. So I guess I took a, you know, what any sane individual would do. I quit my job, cashed in my retirement. Right. Is that financial advisement there and decide to start a chocolate shop? And it’s been three years and I’m looking to see, you know, how he will fold into the company as he gets a little bit older.

Jim Dunlop 05:31

So. So you and your wife Erin made this big change a few years ago. Tell me what what was the tipping point for you? And tell me a little bit. What about what the company looks like today in the in the subsequent years that you’ve been involved with it?

Roger Haney 05:50

I think the tipping point for us was somewhere right around when Covid started. You know, having being in healthcare. But I was also a regional manager that traveled all over the country. I was spending a lot more time at home and trying to do work, as many Americans were at that time. And, you know, I thought a lot about, you know, life and where we’re going and the direction and really kind of get to see the see my children as they were growing up so fast. And thought, you know what, if there’s ever going to be a time, you know, why not now, right? You hear all these stories of individuals during that time who went back to school or changed careers, and I guess I kind of fall in that category. It’s something I’ve thought about and talked about for years, but actually had the guts to do it. And now, even though he’s not working yet, about 33% of our workforce are in there. Other individuals with special needs that are working with us. And and that’s a large number of high school kids as well as adults with special needs, so we’re continuing to grow and look forward to him joining the team whenever he’s gets a little bit older.

Jim Dunlop 06:58

So there’s lots of businesses you could go into. Tell me why we picked fudge and chocolate.

Roger Haney 07:06

Yeah, that’s a good question. And I get asked that question a lot. You know, as a as a child, my grandfather actually made fudge. I’d like to say that I was with him and learned every step of it, but I didn’t. My background, ironically, before healthcare, was hotel restaurant management, so I always had a desire for food service. I had a desire for production and operations. But really, what it was for me was just old fashioned. Good luck and timing. I happened to meet an individual. Him and his wife owned a fudge company. It was a small company and they were looking to semi-retire and looking to sell their business. And I watched what they did and how they went about their business, even though it was just the two of them. I observed the steps in the process and I thought, wow, there’s a lot of repetitive behaviors here, and if supervised and conducted in a right and proper manner, there’s a great opportunity here to really bring in individuals with varying abilities and provide them opportunities that they otherwise might not receive. So that’s that’s really kind of how it started. And we really kind of created like a production line assembly for the individuals. And then we created a career ladder. So as they come in and they they work hard, show initiative and want to advance their careers, we move them into more of the making of the products, where they’re dipping the chocolate and helping assist with the making of the fudge, not just packaging it. And we also for individuals that like to be out in the public, they come join me in shows and they do customer interaction. They learn the work at point of sale system, make change for the customer. So it’s kind of a full gamut of responsibilities that these individuals learn at our factory.

Jim Dunlop 09:02

So I know you partner with obviously you partner with some local schools. And of course you’re teaching these important basic job skills, but also more advanced skills to folks. Tell me about those partnerships and the work you’re doing in the schools.

Roger Haney 09:20

Well, I you know, early on I realized that it bringing on individuals on the payroll would be very difficult as we were as we were small. So I thought the first step would be bringing individuals in on a voluntary basis until we can continue to grow our company. So it started with one high school, and then it became two and then three, and we continue to grow from there. And what these individuals do. They’ll come in on a bus or in a van with their teachers from the school, and they’ll come in and they’ll put their personal belongings down in the break room. They know to go right to the hairnets and the aprons, and they go wash their hands. And they’re so excited for what the day is going to unfold. And they know that every day is a little bit different. And spectrum fudge. So we’re trying to teach them in a very safe, inclusive work environment what real life is like. So it gives them a real, accurate indication of what it will be when they get out of school, you know, so there’s, you know, there’s music playing in the background, there’s alarms going off on the fudge, you know, so it can be noisy. And some of the individuals with special needs do well with that. Other individuals with special needs struggle with that. So they might have various like headphones on for noise cancellations and those sorts of things. But you know, our goal is to create an environment for them, to prepare them for life after high school and ultimately life after Spectrum Fudge. The goal isn’t for them to stay. The goal is to them to move on in the real world by giving them some skills in the workforce.

Jim Dunlop 11:00

That’s pretty cool. I, I know that you and Erin aren’t alone in this journey. You have your son, Jake, and then a daughter, Katelyn. Could you tell me a little bit about, you know, where they are in this journey with you? The three of them?

Roger Haney 11:17

Absolutely. So? So my wife, she handles all social media because I don’t really, you know, I don’t I claim to know nothing, and I really don’t. So she, she handles all that and our marketing and advertising and those sort of things. My son, you know, they call him the little CEO. He comes in and goes right to the office and puts his feet up and grabs a phone or an iPad and, and starts to watch cartoons. And, you know, we remind him that’s not what work is. So we, you know, we we we encourage them to come out. And little by little, he’s starting to do more and says he actually wants to be a chocolate chef when he grows up. So of course, some days you ask me wants to be an astronaut. So I’m not really sure where that’s going to land, but but we’re on the right track, I think. And for my daughter, she loves doing it. She loves the shows. She’s a typical high school kid with a lot of conflicting priorities. So we take her when we can get her. But, you know, that was really it. And and in the early days, it was also having my mom, my dad, my sister, she’s a dietitian. She did all the nutrition labels for us. Even my 93 year old grandma came in for a while and started learning how to package fudge, because the first couple of years we were very lean and mean and we were trying to fulfill those Christmas orders and it was definitely all hands on deck. So. So it’s definitely the family.

Jim Dunlop 12:43

With a dietitian involved, does that mean this fudge is extra healthy?

Roger Haney 12:48

Well, she loves to say everything in moderation. And she said that, you know, actually, when it comes to fudge, it’s really not that unhealthy. The way we make it. So I was pleasant to hear that. But, you know, she, she, she and her other dietitian friends have purchased many of our products, so.

Jim Dunlop 13:11

Well, there’s a good endorsement. So, Roger, tell me a little bit about Brandy and Scott Hershberger.

Roger Haney 13:18

You know, it’s funny, they talk about life and reasons season and the purpose when people come into your life. And a little backstory, ironically. Brandy, Scott and I all grew up in a little town called Johnstown, Pennsylvania. All around the same time, Scott and I played ice hockey. All around the same time and know all the same kids. But for whatever reason, the three of us paths never crossed. It wasn’t until I moved to Florida for a number of years working in healthcare, that Brandi applied for a job at the hospital that I was working at. She applied for a chief nursing officer position while I was the chief operating officer. So looking at her resume, I immediately saw she was from Pittsburgh. And then I even saw she was from Johnstown. So I jokingly said, we gotta hire her immediately. Long story short, we did hire her and she was a terrific asset to our team. But I left in 2017 and moved back to Pennsylvania in an effort to provide better schools for my son. That was kind of the first step, was moving him back to Pennsylvania, where the special needs programs were much better, and kind of losing contact with the both of them. And in 2021, I happened to get a text from Brandi that said, hey, I don’t even know if this is still you, Roger. But Scott and I moved back to Pittsburgh. Are you anywhere? You’re still around. So the four of us, my wife and the two of them got together. We had dinner, and I learned that Scott loves to make chocolate. And I go, really? Now that’s interesting. And he would make the high end chocolates like the the bonbon and the bonbons and the artisan chocolates and all that really high end wedding stuff. And his goal was to do a lot of weddings and, and banquets and high end stuff, that he learned a lot of that cooking from his mom. So he was trying to do stuff in her honor, and she just passed away recently before that. So after months and months of convincing him to come down and check out the factory, he finally did. And he fell in love with it and and really taken to the whole mission, not just the operations of production and the way he interacts with the with the individuals, the students and the adults with special needs is just truly amazing. He just really has a soft spot for them and has a great way of teaching them, and yet holding a standard of quality because him and I both agree. You know, we have a great mission and people are probably willing to try it that first time because they know it’s for a good cause. But if the product’s not good, they’re not going to come back and buy it again. So he holds a very high standard. And the and the all the individuals just love being at the factory with Scott. So we joke around that. It’s like a perfect blend because everything I like to do, which is this podcast and joining Chamber of Commerce and being out in the community and doing shows is everything that he does not like to do. And he likes to be in the factory and he likes to cook and he likes to run operations. All the things I try to do and did not do very well at it, so it’s like a perfect blend. And Brandy’s involved and from an operation standpoint and for her with with the corporation and businesses and her connections with with government around the state of Pennsylvania, she’s really helping open a lot of doors for us. So it’s it’s been the perfect blend for the four of us.

Jim Dunlop 16:59

That’s pretty cool. How the right people show up in your life at the right moment.

Roger Haney 17:04

Absolutely.

Jim Dunlop 17:06

Could you share a story that maybe would give some practical ideas to our listeners around your own generosity journey that could be, you know, something that would help them? Just a practical idea or story?

Roger Haney 17:23

Yeah, absolutely. Jim, you know, in my days in healthcare, we talk a lot about staffing and and the shortage of employees both now and especially into the future. And we talk a lot about how mankind is going to be able to perform the jobs that are there before us with with the declining workforce. And, and what I want to emphasize, the fact that there is a huge market out there of individuals that are with special needs, that are not even being looked at, not even being considered for opportunities. As I mentioned about the unemployment rate earlier, these individuals, some many of which even have college educations and are not even being considered for opportunities, and I would like to encourage employers to look at that from a different perspective. You know, maybe you need to tweak the way you do certain things. Maybe you need to bring on a job coach, which people might think that that’s that’s going to add into my cost. Because let’s be honest, right. Everything is based off of finances and business. Well, that’s that’s not the case. The government has so many programs out there, whether it’s over, whether it’s on the job training, OJT programs, and a whole other bunch of acronyms that I can throw to you right now that you probably wouldn’t know and I didn’t know before I looked into this, but there’s opportunities out there for companies to take advantage of, you know, bring an individual in with a support person for a period of time. And once they get the ropes and they understand what they’re doing, that job person goes away and that person becomes a very productive member of your team and of society. And I find that most of these individuals are just looking for a chance. They just want an opportunity. And many of them are so dependable, so reliable, so excited to come to work that it almost becomes contagious and rubs off to the other members of the team. And and it’s just a very holistic feeling.And I can’t emphasize that enough that companies are struggling to fill positions. Just give it a shot. Look into what programs are available, and I think you’ll be very surprised of the caliber of individuals that are out there that can improve your staffing and overall productivity in your own companies.

Jim Dunlop 19:48

Well, and. It sounds like too, it’s an A, if done well, can be a real boost to your culture. If you bring in a very productive person who’s enthusiastic to be there every day.

Roger Haney 20:01

Absolutely.

Jim Dunlop 20:03

Well, you know, Roger, this has been really helpful and exciting to hear the work that you’re doing at Spectrum Fudge. Tell me a little bit about what’s coming up for Spectrum Fudge, and where do we find your product? And tell our listeners, you know, as you look down the road over the next few years, what you see for your organization?

Roger Haney 20:24

Well, thank you, Jim. Yeah. It’s exciting. We’re in that absolute busiest time of the year, as you can imagine, as we are getting close to the holidays and it is very intense. So we do a lot of stuff locally in shows around the area of Pittsburgh, arts and craft shows. We do a lot of youth sporting events. We do fundraising, which is a huge opportunity and we ship that anywhere in the country and 40% goes back to the organization. So that is something that I encourage you to check out. We do corporate gifting this time of year. Many organizations want to buy gifts for their customers or their clients as gifts of appreciation for the year. We do a lot of that and we can customize those gifts to meet your needs, you know? And the other area is wholesale. While we do not currently have a storefront, we sell a lot of stores around Pittsburgh and actually several places in Philadelphia area where that you can go into a store to buy our products. And all of all those are listed on our website where you can get our products. And in addition to that is the website we ship anywhere in the United States, and we have currently shipped to 43 states. I’m very proud to say we made it as far as Hawaii at this point. I would love to be able to hit all 50 by the end of this year. That’s a personal goal of mine. But you can pick up our products, see where you can get our products. All of that is done at spectrumfudge.com. So go in there and check us out. Of course we’re on social media as well. We have an Instagram and a Facebook account too.

Jim Dunlop 22:03

So just in case there’s a few listeners hanging out there, what state are you what states are you still trying to hit? Roger.

Roger Haney 22:11

Yeah, there are a few. We are looking at New Mexico, we’re looking at Alaska, which I’m very disappointed. I was just in vacation in Alaska, and I thought I convinced the person, but they haven’t bought it yet. There is a Montana is one of the states I believe that is Oklahoma is another one. So there’s a handful of them throughout the country. So come check us out. And we continuing to put new items on our website. So you’ll be very excited to see all the different things that we offer.

Jim Dunlop 22:42

All right. Well, please, I do have one final question for you, Roger. But before we do that again, I’ll tell everybody. Please go check out Spectrum Fudge at spectrumfudge.com. And especially if you’re from one of those states Roger just mentioned, maybe you can help put them on the map in all 50 states. You can also follow Spectrum Fudge on Facebook and Instagram. So Roger, my final question for you today is if you could share some advice or wisdom on a billboard somewhere where you’re going to reach a lot of people, what would your message be?

Roger Haney 23:13

You know, everybody learns different, and we live in a world where inclusivity isn’t always the top of people’s minds. But at Spectrum Fudge, we provide that safe, comfortable environment for individuals to be just given an opportunity. And if we look within ourselves, in our own walks of life, I bet there’s opportunities where we could do something in our own life that will increase these opportunities for these individuals, whether it’s joining an organization like Best Buddies. Help volunteering in an organization like Special Olympics. Or employment of these individuals like I spoke about a few minutes ago. There’s a lot of great opportunity out there. These individuals, unfortunately, a lot of times are kind of forgotten about. And they’re huge assets and they just want to be given an opportunity. So I would say that would be my message today.

Jim Dunlop 24:10

Thank you so much, Roger. That resonates. Give folks a chance. Well, thank you so much for being with us, Roger, and we’re glad you could join us. And we’ll be excited to see what comes next for Spectrum Fudge.

Roger Haney 24:23

Thank you Jim. Appreciate your time today.

Outro 24:26

Thanks for joining us to hear stories of generosity that remind us that you can’t take it with you. Visit our site at canttakeitwithyou.com for more details on today’s episode and to subscribe to future shows.

Disclosure

Neither today’s guests nor their company are affiliated with or endorsed by Thrivent Advisor Network. The views expressed in this presentation by the guest are their own and not necessarily those of Thrivent or its affiliates.

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