Triple partnership provides revenue, job skills, recycling

At the root of the program are tree stands used by hunters during deer season.

At the end of deer season, hunters return tree stands made out of iron and aluminum to the 27 Bass Pro Shops nationwide. For liability reasons, the stands cannot be resold, so they are shipped to Springfield, where they are disassembled and the scrap metal is sold, said Dan Hoy, director of facilities for Bass Pro Shops.

That’s where the correctional center inmates come in.

Previously, Bass Pro had paid the equivalent of a full-time employee over the course of a year to dismantle the stands, Hoy said.

“Naturally, if we have something to dispose of we’d like to minimize further investment in it in terms of paid labor and thought Habitat might be able to bring a good volunteer base for mutual benefit – to generate revenue for them and alleviate further expense for us,” he said.

Hoy initially contacted Habitat for Humanity ReStore to see if it would be interested in disassembling returned tree stands. The opportunity was seen as a way for Habitat to continue a partnership with OCC as well as generate revenue for Habitat for Humanity.

Once the tree stands are disassembled, ReStore will take over, selling the scrap metal to Commercial Metals Co.

Anna Codutti, operations manager for Habitat for Humanity ReStore, said Bass Pro Shops estimated it had been making $12,000 to $15,000 annually from reselling the scrap metal.

“It’s going to mean a sustainable source of revenue and activities for our prison partnership,” Codutti said.

Some items from the disassembly, such as nuts and bolts, eventually will be resold at the ReStore.

The benefit of the partnership continues in Fordland by providing a way for the inmates to gain work skills and to give back to the community.

“It gives them work experience with the different projects that we do, and I

also believe it gives them a sense of being able to help people,” OCC Superintendent Virgil Lansdowne said. “We considered it sort of like restored injustice. They are returning something back to society after taking from it.”

OCC is a Level 2 correctional facility, meaning that it is often the last stop for inmates before they are released, Hoy said.

“This provides good vocational training for those inmates (because) in many cases they’ve not had the basic work skills,” he added.

Another project the three entities have come together for is the building of shipping containers for Bass Pro.

Whenever a new Bass Pro store opens, the acquisition department at the company’s Springfield headquarters is responsible for shipping the artifacts and taxidermy that are used to give the store that outdoor world environment, Hoy said.

“Habitat charges Bass Pro Shops a management fee per container and the inmates get good work training,” Hoy said. “Bass Pro Shops buys the material. They deliver the shipping crates to us, and it’s another win-win.”

Initially, Habitat has been commissioned with building 50 shipping containers, but Hoy said he anticipates Bass Pro will need 80.

“This first 50 will give us a good opportunity to see if we gain all of the benefits of the shipping crate program that we expect,” he said.

Habitat ReStore, located at 4535 W. Chestnut Expressway, began in 1999 by collecting building materials and selling them in garage sale events, Codutti said. In late 2000, it acquired retail space.

“The ReStore is here to sell discount building materials, but it is a source of funding for Habitat to build houses,” Condutti said.

Habitat’s main goal is to build houses and to partner with lower-income families to provide them safe and decent housing, she said.

“It’s all related back to the families,” she said. “Habitat is here because there are families in need of safe, decent housing.”