Manufacturing Talks

Dan Meyer talks about everything you need to know to start with second-chance hiring

Jim Vinoski

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For Episode 150, we wanted something really meaningful. Dan Meyer brought it.

Say you're in manufacturing and you can't find enough people to do the jobs you need done on your factory floor. (Sound familiar?)

Here's a thought: there is a whole class of people who are desperate for jobs, but because of a past bad decision, they're locked out of the very things they need to turn their lives around, with gainful employment being the biggest hurdle.

Want to give them a chance? Then tune in and hear just how to do it and why it's so important from one of the very first activists for second-chance hiring, Dan, who is founder and CEO of Nehemiah Manufacturing Company in Cincinnati.

Dan covers just how he was inspired to hire the formerly incarcerated, his early challenges and how he overcame them, and what second chance hiring does for people, businesses, and the community.

Here are the highlights.

Chapters:
00:00 - introduction
01:45 - Dan's corporate background with P&G, Pepsico, and Bristol-Myers Squibb, and his founding of his first company, Changing Paradigms
03:00 - selling that company and founding Nehemiah Manufacturing
06:30 - challenged to hire a felon: did it, but after the first few, started losing them
07:30 - hiring a social worker to solve that problem
09:30 - Nehemiah's pillars, including building community, affordable housing, and legal support
13:45 - now have 170 second-chance employees, with turnover of 15%
18:20 - getting other companies to buy in, including Kroger
21:00 - "people don't change" - why that's a myth
23:30 - educational help and Nehemiah U
25:00 - addressing fears of liability or violence - not a problem
28:00 - if you need more info, reach out to Dan

There is much, much more, and every bit of it is critical. Tune in and check it all out!