The Philadelphia Inquirer: Erin Arvedlund - February 8, 2021
People recently released from prison. People who are homeless. Adults who are disabled or in recovery from drugs and other addictions. Many employers would never hire these folks. But Baker Industries does. And they’re looking to hire more.
Workers at nonprofit Baker perform light industrial work: packaging, assembling, kitting, shrink-wrapping, and mailing for over 80 companies across the Philadelphia region. The work is performed by traditionally hard-to-employ adults at either Baker’s airy, modern, refurbished factory in Kensington or at its second site in Malvern. Before the pandemic, Baker staffed up about 100 people. Now, the company employs only about 55.
“Many of our employees couldn’t come back because of fears of the virus, or they lacked child care, or because of the generosity of unemployment benefits,” said Dan Porter, Baker’s sales and marketing manager.
So Baker is looking to bring more employees on board. Its long-term goal remains the same: Train its workers in the $8-an-hour entry-level job long enough that they can move on to higher-paying jobs, at Baker or at for-profits elsewhere.
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