White Cane Coffee has been a quiet success story for some time. We hope national recognition for Erin Willman, White Cane Coffee CEO, amplifies the Willman family’s story — because they have quite the story to tell.

Erin Willman is being recognized by CEO Monthly with a Global CEO Excellence Award for Best Organic Coffee Manufacturing CEO (USA). She was presented the award recently and her story will appear in a future CEO Monthly magazine.

It’s quite an honor for Willman and her family.

After all, the Willman family didn’t allow Erin’s blindness or the fact that Erin and two brothers are on the autism spectrum to slow them down. When Erin Willman couldn’t find a job, she and her family made one. When that company became successful, the family started the White Cane Foundation to help bring services, vision screenings, glasses, contacts, and other needs that the vision impaired in our area need.

White Cane Coffee, which includes braille on its packaging and employs eight people with disabilities, is a burgeoning success story right here in our own backyard. The company’s coffee can be found on store shelves in Warren and several other U.S. cities.

Erin Willman may have lost her sight at the age of 15, but no one should question her vision or that of the Willman family.