The hidden workforce: a partnership between the department of public safety and NC state university's industry expansion solutions is helping to correct the manufacturing sector's skilled-labor shortage.

• Author: Volborth, Miranda
• Position: SPONSORED COMMENTS FROM NC STATE UNIVERSITY: Industry Expansion Solutions

CEOs cite the shortage of skilled workers as one of their most pressing concerns, so Director of N.C. Correction Enterprises Karen Brown is eager to get the word out: She knows of a highly trained, highly motivated group ready to get to work. They are ex-offenders, released from prison and sent back to their communities for a chance to start productive new lives. Of the 2,000 or so inmates released every month, 45 to 60 of them worked and trained in one of Correction Enterprises' 31 manufacturing facilities across the state.

"In Elizabeth City, we do embroidery, as well as specialized sewing, like safety vests for Department of Transportation," says Brown. "In Nashville, N.C., we make eyeglasses for Medicaid patients." The mission of her organization is twofold: to produce quality goods for the state, and to teach both hard and soft skills--such as interviewing techniques and effective communications--to the inmates it employs.

Beginning in 2016, selected inmates working in 12 of those plants also started to receive specialized training through a new partnership with NC State Industry Expansion Solutions (IES), the client-focused extension unit of the College of Engineering. An IES improvement specialist worked closely with Correction Enterprises staff and inmate employees to train them in "Lean"--a set of principles that teaches workers to identify and eliminate waste and improve processes, resulting in high-quality, low-cost products.

Phil Mintz is the executive director of IES, and says that Lean has delivered huge profits to his...