Wilmington store operated by people with disabilities
In good economic times or bad, people with disabilities can have a hard time finding jobs, according to federal government studies.
Tim Corbett doesn’t have to look at U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports to know that. It’s one reason the Surf City resident started Carolina Country Store, a business that employs three people with disabilities. The store, with Wilmington locations in the Old Wilmington City Market at 119 S. Water St. and Blue Moon Gift Shops at 203 Racine Drive, sells, among other goodies, flavored pecans made by residents of the O’Berry Center, a state institution in Goldsboro that houses more than 300 people with developmental disabilities.
The pecans are $6 for a 4-ounce bag, $10 for an 8-ounce jar and $13 for a 12-ounce jar.
Corbett worked at the center as a vocational consultant for more than 10 years. With a bachelor’s degree in education of the hearing impaired from Atlantic Christian College and a master’s degree in special education from East Carolina University, Corbett taught special education in Greene County schools for 20 years before working at the O’Berry Center.
“My goal was to one day have a business that could be run and operated by people with disabilities,” Corbett said.
