MATTHEWS, N.C. — Finding a job can be a long and challenging process bt for those with special needs and disabilities, that process can be even harder. 

Miller Brydon has Down syndrome and knows this all too well, but luckily he has found the perfect job.

Every Tuesday, he heads over to Bear Food in Matthews to wrap and label peanut cans.

He works alongside his brother Mac who founded this peanut company a few years ago while playing basketball at Mercer University in Georgia.

“I just hustled and….I went door to door literally,” Mac says. “I met people through different events, and then all of a sudden after that wintertime, I was like, okay, this could legitimately pay for school, and who knows after that.”

Through his job, Mac worked to provide jobs for adults with special needs.

“It meant so much because they know they are doing something that is just bigger than a task,” he says. “They’re helping out, and they just take pride in being a part of the community and being a part of other people’s lives.”

After Mac graduated from college, he came back to North Carolina.
Then the pandemic hit, which impacted the business and his brother Miller.

“He had some good volunteer jobs that he was workings, and of course, when they got lifted up, he couldn’t do it anymore,” he says. “ It sucked.”

Luckily Mac was able to keep his brother employed.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s recent summary showed that the percentage of people with disabilities working dropped from 19.3% to 17.9%.

Mac knows the challenges his brother faces and hopes other companies will follow his lead and work to hire more adults with special needs.

“People want to support the special needs community, especially young adults, and instead of just donating money, they are seeing a company that directly helps them,” he says.

The ultimate goal is to open a storefront for Bear Food, but no matter where his business takes him, he knows that Miller will be there enjoying the ride.

Mac says he would also like to start manufacturing his product and having more adults with special needs working for his company.