This job is a golden opportunity. I haven’t just learned real-world job skills; I have the chance to apply them every day.
– Chris, Turney Center Industrial Complex Employee.
The PIE program has a proven track record of rehabilitation, reducing recidivism rates from 70% to less than 10%. As part of the voluntary program, inmates earn a competitive living wage, which is then apportioned by the State of Tennessee to help individuals pay victims’ restitution, child support/alimony, taxes for room and board, and to contribute to personal savings.
Offenders employed by our program also acquire vital work skills and experience, taking pride in their craftsmanship and the products they create. After their release, offenders who have worked in our program have critical work skills and experience, and are better equipped to transition back into family life, society and work. Nationally, most inmates leaving state prison have a 70% chance of returning. For individuals employed in a program like ours, that recidivism rate drops to less than 10%.
We never hesitate to discuss the fact that our plant is in a correctional facility. In fact, it is the part of our business of which I am the most proud. From an enterprise perspective, our program doesn’t just create increasingly skilled workers. The quality, performance and beauty of our products reflect the genuine pride and attention to detail invested in every board.
– Allie Finkell
The American OEM prison manufacturing plant is the eighth and most complex PIE program established by Don Finkell and the American OEM team. Beginning in 1996, Anderson Hardwoods first operated within the South Carolina prison system, and the hand scraping process that revolutionized the industry was introduced five years later. Our Tennessee facility includes a high-speed finishing line, a design-oriented finishing line, and the labor intensive hand scraping/sanding departments to achieve visuals that would be impossible to accomplish in a highly automated environment.