Raising Expectations at Avista

When the linemen at Avista think of Malachi Chaney, one word comes to mind: irreplaceable. Chaney took to the job "like a duck to water," but his employment with The Arc of Spokane had a rocky start due to a problem with his background check. A charge that he had never been made aware of became the roadblock between him and his dream job at Avista. He had been excited to take his father out for a nice dinner with the earnings from his first paycheck; instead, he was required to be fired, completely blindsiding both Chaney and his new supervisor, Dave Rogers. “I told Malachi the day I let him go, 'If I can, I will get you back, I guarantee I will get you back,'" said Rogers. "I’m glad I made good on that promise, because honest-to-God, I have never had anybody who works as hard as he does. I’ve never had anybody, an employee or client, that puts in the work that he does.”

Fast forward six years, and Chaney has been nominated for Employee of the Year by supervisors on four different occasions and is specifically requested by many of the Avista linemen to go out into the field with them.

"I had started getting trained, and I really enjoy the forklift training. I got to move to up. We had a boss named Barry and he had me unloading recyclers, Barry moved me over to doing more and sometimes the truck drivers will ask for me,” said Chaney.

Read more of Malachi's story below.

Irreplaceable

During recent snow and wind storms in Spokane, Chaney assisted the linemen as they restored power to thousands of Spokane residents.

“They always ask for Malachi," said Rogers. "Malachi showed how good he was, how skillful he was on the forklift, and how careful, and Barry started giving Malachi his jobs."

It was never part of the plan for the team to move around the Investment Recovery Center and go on the job with linemen. When the employment program at Avista was started, it was in the old mindset of group employment sites. The success of workers like Chaney has helped that concept transition into a more adaptive model.

"It’s evolved and grown, just like the guys have evolved and grown," said Rogers. "Over the 30 years we’ve been here, this has changed so much. We made 2.5 million dollars last year in recycling right here."

Precision is called for when it comes to jobs at the mini dock that Chaney takes on, and that's where his keen attention for detail really shines. He's goal-oriented and takes over tasks that he wants to do, which sometimes makes it difficult for Rogers to complete his employment goals because he works through them so quickly.

"I feel good about it, really good - all of the stuff I've learned over the years I've been here. That forklift's nice, though," said Chaney. "I wake up with a smile on my face every day coming to work."

And bonus: Chaney has been able to take his dad to dinner multiple times.