Prison print shops?

[Get Shirts]

Does such a thing exist?  Had someone today tell me that they sometimes bid against print shops staffed by inmates.

[244]

Yes they do exist. We have sold quite a few presses to federal prisons in the past. What we see them doing with them is internal work for their own use. I have yet to see them doing textiles for our general industry.

[blue moon]

Impact printing in Kansas is using prison labor to produce regular market goods. I think they are an ASI distributor/contract printer. They advertise paying the prevailing wage to the inmates and claim no fiscal benefit from using prisons. The biggest difference is that the print shops positions in the prison population are considered a highly desirable job so they should be getting a more motivated worker for about the same amount of money.

pierre

[T Shirt1]

YEARS ago we contract printed towels for a federal pen - Pen Products if memory serves.  The pen sent the finished towels to military bases.  Can't really say what they're doing now.

[mk162]

Hey, job training.  Not a bad idea.  Better than training them to be plumbers or HVAC techs...that go into people's homes.

We had an ex-con working here.  Spent 3 (I think) years in federal prison.  One of the best employees we ever had.

[rushhourscreen]

I know the state prison in Hagerstown, MD is printing tees.  I've seen their work for the MD lottery.  They bid just like any other company.

[Gabe]

I  heard some  prisons in the southeast have embroidery machines also

[ebscreen]

Having to print your own orange jumpsuit. Man that would suck.

[Prosperi-Tees]

At least its just a 1 color print, lol.

[David005]

Some ex cons make some of the best workers. 1. They have report in.
2. They get checked on at work place.3. Most of the fed prisons mainly print for Unicore which makes bullet proof vests etc..and yes screen print for military .

[terryei]

They are competitors.
Years ago we had a few designations that the government wanted.  We wre "certified" women owned, had a HUB Zone designation and hired hadicaped.  The prison called one day and asked us to bid a screening job.  I can't remember what the substraight was.  We said we would not waste our time if the prisners were also going to bid.  Unacore, Prison Industries told us the prison was not bidding, but if they did they have to structure their bid as if they were paying pervailing wages to the prisoners.  We bid.  Didn't get it and had to FOI Act to find out the winner...Yep Prison Industries.  They lied to us.

We were low bid on another Government bid to the Air Force Academy in Colorado.  Folding/bagging, no printing, 8000 t-shirts.  They did not award us the contract.  We were low bid!  WHY?  They told use we did not have any experiance with the government!  We work with fortune 500 companies on a daly basis.  We ship world wide weekley.  We had a distributor network of 250 companies throughout the US, Canada, BUT we couldn't fold and bag 8000 t-shirts. 
We took it to Washington...Long story short...We didn't get it!  They did ask us to spend $1,500.00 to be listed with a company that would guarantee no bid work for us.  Washington small business admin begged us to join.  2 weeks after we paid the SBA canceled the program.
We're still waiting for our refund...have been since 2003.
You wanna bid government stuff?  GOOD LUCK
Terry

[Parker 1]

Yes, prison/ goverment subsidized print shops do excist.  We are forced to compete with a "nonprofit" printer locally.  This particular shop runs 1 auto M&R 10/12, multiple mannuals, & employ 30-60 unskilled (Disabled/Specail Needs) workers at any givin time.  Along with paying skilled workers $10-15/ hr.  Which is all Subsidized useing both Federal and State Government grants (our Tax dollars).   They offer FREE poly bagging for every order, this is where the unskilled labor comes in. 

What could you print a shirt for if your business did not have to pay for goods, inks, chemicals, screens, bags, boxes, equipment, rent, electricity, water, phone, advertising, insurance, taxes and of corse labor. 

This particular company sells to every and all the same customers we are allowed to and is on all the same bid list (private or not) as all the privately run shops are. 

Just my experience. 

One more thing.  There listed annual revenue is 2.5-5 Million. 

[Donnie]

They have a one in Oklahoma and they operate under Oklahoma Correctional Industries. Several years ago I saw their ad for screen printing in of all places, The Oklahoma State School Board news letter.

[Get Shirts]

Well as long as they compete on the same field as we do then it's no issue.  However, I would be bummed to learn I had lost a bid to one of those shops, that I essentially fund, by a large margin.

I guess it doesn't matter either way though, I'll focus in what I can control.

[bimmridder]

Years ago we looked at putting some of our embroidery equipment in a prison near us. Our equipment and supplies and garments. Their labor. Constant and cheap labor. The tour of the facility was eye opening to say the least (I had to go to the local Wal-Mart to buy jeans since I had gone there straight from work wearing shorts. I forgot how hot I looked in shorts...I guess) Our main concern was the supervisory logistics (me) going back and forth often. Just imagine if you had an unlimited work force of men that really WANT to work and do the best job they can, versus sitting in a 6x8 cell all day. A lot of good could have come from it. They have a top notch furniture shop, sign making facility, and yes, we saw where the make license plates. Too bad it didn't work. Unlimited, inexpensive labor, that gave a damn about their work.

I also know of a shop that uses prisoners in their facility as temps.