Reformed and ready for work

Finding a job that will support yourself and your family can be tough. For someone who's been in prison, it can be a lot tougher.

But exactly how difficult? One Leadership Cape group is using their project to find out. The eight-member team asked for businesses to take part in a survey about policies for hiring ex-offenders and awareness of programs that may take some of the risk out of the decision.

"We received 149 responses, which is more than I thought we would," said Bruce Skinner, director of the Office of Residential Life at the Southeast Missouri State University.

Worrying about people on probation or parole, or just those who have a criminal past, may not be politically popular. But the point the Leadership Cape group is trying to make is that if they cannot find satisfying work with at a living wage, former felons are also future felons.

About one-third of those who responded said their company would not hire a felon, one-third would consider the applicant and about one-third did not know their company policies, Skinner said. The last result was surprising, he said, since 79 percent of the people completing the survey were midlevel managers or higher.

The biggest concerns employers have about hiring convicted felons are that the person won't show up to work because they have been arrested again or that the employee would steal from the business or its customers, Skinner said. The next most-cited concern was the employer's potential liability for illegal actions of the employee.

And there's a hierarchy of crimes, from most to least offensive, that play a part in the hiring decision, Skinner said. The list goes from sex offenders -- 94 percent of employers said they would or probably would not hire a sex offender -- to driving while intoxicated, which caused the least concern.

The data will be helpful in designing education efforts to allay employer fears and promote programs that protect employers and their customers, said team member Belinda Ashley, a senior U.S. probation officer.

"People don't realize we have a lot of skilled people that need a second chance," she said.

When offenders are on probation or supervised release, there are often requirements that they hold a job in order to meet the conditions of their release. For that reason, only 2.9 percent of the 250 offenders on federal probation in the Eastern District of Missouri are unemployed. But the kind of jobs the offenders are able to find often are the lowest-paying and least desirable jobs, Ashley said.

"The problem is not finding the jobs but the problem is we can't find the livable wages," she said.

"We have some white-collar offenders coming out and people in trades that are labor intensive," Ashley said. "They are needing second chances but employers are hesitant."

Two federal programs help employers take a chance on an ex-offender, Ashley said. One program, called federal bonding, is a way for employees to obtain a surety bond through Travelers Insurance Co. to protect the employer against theft. The federal probation office helps coordinate the purchase of the bond.

The other program is a tax credit of up to $2,400 for hiring someone from nine target groups ranging from veterans to welfare recipients to ex-offenders, she said.

The survey grew from a national effort in the federal probation system to find more opportunities for former offenders, Skinner said, as well as the realization that the community could soon see the return of federal inmates incarcerated on crack cocaine charges. The federal courts have started a review program that could reduce the sentences of many people held in federal custody for crack.

Skinner, Ashley and the rest of the team -- Eric Bohl of the Limbaugh Law Firm, Jeanne Camden of Capaha Bank, Greg Cook of Great Plains Media, Michele Hahn of the city, John McGowan of the United Way of Southeast Missouri and Darrell Moran of Delta Companies will present their full report at the June First Friday coffee.

The other three Leadership Cape teams will also make presentations.

• Open for bids: Commander Premier Aircraft Corp., which made its headquarters in Cape Girardeau with hopes of manufacturing airplanes here, has failed to find the financing needed to begin production and is now for sale, according to the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association news service. The company needed $5 million to $10 million.

In January, displaying confidence that the time was nearing when production would start, the company reorganized. Joel Hartstone and Claudia Horn had put together the group that purchased the assets of the bankrupt Commander Aircraft Co. in 2005. Their roles of president/chief executive and treasurer/chief financial officer, respectively, were taken over by Gregory Walker and Roger Tippens. Hartstone and Horn were kept on as directors to put together a financing package.

The company moved to Cape Girardeau in December 2005 with plans to build up to 30 airplanes a year with 40 to 60 employees. The company has only a handful of workers, making parts for and doing maintenance on Commander aircraft built before 2002.

"While CPAC has always been open to being acquired, it has concentrated its own efforts on raising production financing and continuing to ramp up as an independent company," a statement issued by the company and quoted by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association news service said. "However, prompted by recent purchase inquiries, and acknowledging the general paralysis of the financing market, CPAC's Board of Directors approved CPAC announcing that it would consider responsible offers for the purchase of all, or a controlling interest in CPAC."

• Lighting contract: Cotner Electric Co. of Cape Girardeau landed a $610,000 MoDOT contract to install lighting at four Interstate 55 interchanges and two Dexter, Mo., interchanges on U.S. 60. The 400-watt sodium vapor lights will be placed at the Highway 74, Dutchtown, Scott City and Hayti exits on I-55 and at 1 Mile Road and Route AD in Dexter, Ron Cotner said.

The project will provide a lot more light at those intersections, part of an overall push for safety along the highways, said Brian Holt, a resident engineer for the Southeast Missouri district. Other contractors will be installing message boards at four locations and putting in cable barriers on I-55 from Oak Ridge to the Interstate 57 interchange in Sikeston.

Cotner has until December to finish the installation. Ron Cotner said the job will start after Memorial Day.

From the news release file: There's a lot of items people wanted me, and more importantly, you the readers, to know about.

• Bella Salon on Pacific Street just finished an expansion, adding 550 square feet and two new employees, according to owner Kelley Callow.
• The Edward Bernard Gallery, 107 West Drive, Suite D, in Cape Girardeau, has been nominated for NICHE magazine's 2008 Top Retailer award. The magazine, which bills itself as the exclusive trade publication of progressive retailers of American crafts, polled 10,000 professional craft artists, who nominated 600 galleries, retail stores, museums and other outlets. The magazine annually recognizes 24 retailers, including a Retailer of the Year, and gives awards in 10 other categories.
• A new scrapbook and gift boutique, the Anna Camille Scrapbook Boutique, is open at 1928 Golden Eagle Court, Suite 5. Christina Lewis and Crystal Richey have expanded their business. They started making quilts, scrapbook pages and invitations from their home, and now have a retail location with a full line of supplies. The store will be open Fridays and Saturdays for now.
• Agri Systems of Cape and Jackson will open soon in a 9,600-square-foot building at 2524 Old Orchard Road in Jackson, the former home of Class Act Gymnastics. The company, with headquarters in Portageville, Mo., is owned by Bruce Martin and Paul Fout, said Tom Kelsey, broker with Lorimont Place Ltd., which handled the leasing representation for the property owners. Agri Systems will have a full line of agricultural equipment, including grain drying and storage units. Martin and Fout have been in the agriculture equipment and construction industry for 31 years.
• Bud's Vacuum Sales & Service, 705 William St., will get a makeover as Bud's Vacuum and Sewing Center with the addition of the Baby Lock line of sewing machines, quilting machines, sergers, embroidery products and software.
• The Missouri Pork Association is looking for a few good tenderloins. Specifically, the organization wants restaurants to nominate their breaded pork tenderloin sandwich for inclusion in -- what else -- "Missouri's Best Breaded Pork Tenderloin" contest. Of the nominees, six will be chosen for on-site visits and the winner will receive a plaque, $500 and unending fame. (Maybe I exaggerated that last part. They promise a live radio remote, where possible.) To find out more, contact the Missouri Pork Association at 573-445-8375. Entries are due June 13.
• From Thursday through June 15, the Missouri Department of Tourism is accepting listings for the 2009 Official Missouri Vacation Planner guide. No listings will be carried over. There are some exclusions, so log on to www.Industry.VisitMO.com after Thursday to find out how to be listed.

Rudi Keller is the business editor for the Southeast Missourian. Contact him at rkeller@semissourian.com or call 335-6611, extension 126.