Omega Pacific Moves

[southernmtguide]

May 14, 2004

 

Omega Pacific announces relocation, end of inmate labor program

 

Spokane, WA – Omega Pacific, a leading manufacturer of climbing, rescue and safety equipment announced today that it will be consolidating its operations by combining separate manufacturing plants and administration offices into a new, single location approximately a mile from its two current facilities. The move, which will be conducted in phases, will begin in June. Upon conclusion, all operations, including manufacturing, sales, marketing, purchasing, quality control and administration will be housed under one roof for the first time since 1999.

 

“This move provides us the opportunity to increase efficiencies and reduce doubling up on such departments as shipping and secondary assembly as we move forward,” said company president Bert Atwater. According to Atwater, the company has purchased a 21,000 square-foot facility that will be expanded to over 40,000 feet over the summer to prepare for the growth and expansion the company anticipates over the next five years. “This is a good time for the company and we need to prepare ourselves for the long-term future,” Atwater said.

 

The announcement comes on the heels of a May 13, 2004 ruling by the Washington State Supreme court which declares participation in the Class I Correctional Industries program inconsistent with constitutional language. Omega Pacific has been a participating member of the combined federal/State program since 1995 and has built the majority of their goods within the Airway Heights Medium Security Correctional Center outside Spokane, Washington. The State Supreme Court had been considering this ruling, which affects seven companies and approximately 175 jobs held by inmate workers, for several months before reaching a 5-4 decision.

 

“The timing of the ruling is largely coincidental,” reported Rob Nadeau, CEO. “We’d been preparing for a move like this for some time, actually. This only pushes the timeline a bit forward,” he said. “We do not expect our customers to notice any change at all.”

 

According to Atwater, the program, while considered successful by every measure according to him, has been assailed by non-participating companies for years. “We took flak for a long time over our involvement in the program. Many of our critics claimed we took advantage of an unfair business advantage but I challenge them to show me just where it was. We didn’t get any breaks in labor rates or wages and security issues and tool counts ate up our rent allowance. Meanwhile, inmates who participate in this program were 87% less likely to re-offend than inmates who didn’t. Besides learning how to become metalworkers, machine operators, clerks and assemblers, these men were able to remain a viable and integral part of the lives with their families on the outside. Most of them sent money home every month to help maintain what they left behind. It helped them to have something they could look forward to when they were released,” said Atwater.

 

The Supreme Court ruling, while regrettable, according to sales and marketing director Michael Lane, wasn’t the sole reason for the move. “Frankly, we’d grown weary of having so many misinformed and uneducated people try to denigrate us for our involvement in this program. Having to repeatedly defend our position was beginning to take its toll on our overall efficiency.”

 

Atwater adds, “it’s really too bad, to tell you the truth. This program is the single-most effective form of prison rehabilitation in the history of the United States prison system. A few short-sighted individuals never understood that and it’s now being discarded. Society is the real victim in this ruling.”

 

Although the timing of the move may have been unexpected, the company is optimistic about its future because it has prepared for this possibility for some time. “I’m pretty excited about the future,” said Lane, “we’re strong in our markets; we know what we’re doing and we have an excellent management staff in place. Our new facility will provide increased efficiencies and greater communication between departments, which was always a challenge while our company was housed in two separate facilities.” He adds, “Quite frankly, I can’t wait to show our critics that Omega Pacific is successful because we’re Omega Pacific, not because we operated out of a prison.”

 

“We regret that we have to say goodbye to our current workforce,” said Nadeau. “They’ve helped us increase quality and production. They were essential to us earning our ISO 9001 status last year and they will be sorely missed. We wish them good luck in the future.”

 

The company is increasing production and hiring new workers to maintain supply through the summer transition. “We won’t miss an order,” Lane said. Meanwhile, the company will continue to move forward with design of the innovative Link Cam active camming device for the recreational climbing market, which it intends to launch at Summer OR in August 2004.

 

For further information, please contact Michael Lane at 800.360.3990 or at info@omegapac.com.

 

Omega Pacific’s new address is 11427 W. 21st Avenue, Airway Heights, WA 99001. Phone numbers are unchanged at 800.360.3990 or 509.456.0170. Fax is 509.456.0194.

 

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[Stefan]

The announcement comes on the heels of a May 13, 2004 ruling by the Washington State Supreme court which declares participation in the Class I Correctional Industries program inconsistent with constitutional language. Omega Pacific has been a participating member of the combined federal/State program since 1995 and has built the majority of their goods within the Airway Heights Medium Security Correctional Center outside Spokane, Washington. The State Supreme Court had been considering this ruling, which affects seven companies and approximately 175 jobs held by inmate workers, for several months before reaching a 5-4 decision.

 

I hate 5-4 decisions by supreme court justices--whether it be state or federal. They are just too close. 9-0 decisions are the way to go.

 

I thought the program for the inmates was a very good program. I guess I gotta learn more about why the justices said the program was inconsistent with unconstitutional language.

[slothrop]

Very interesting. I'm sure the consolidation was a contingency plan that OP was prepared to implement as soon as the ruling was announced. Putting inmates to work has got to be better than letting them sit around bored all day. I'm curious whether inmates really are paid the same as regular employees, though... and how do their benefits measure up? I don't really buy Mr. Atwater's comment that it cost just as much to employ inmates as it would to employ non-incarcerated folks.

 

I'm curious about the reasoning behind the ruling, too.

[jja]

I noticed that too. I'm sure the inmates get very little, but the prison charges full rates and takes a huge cut to administer the program.

[catbirdseat]

I think it is a crying shame. A program that cuts recidivism rates by 87% is good for the inmate, good for the public and taxpayers.

[shapp]

I actually watched arguments in this case on the UW channel. MSR and SMC I believe gave testimony. They argued that Omega had unfair subsidies from the state in producing their prodocts that lead to unfair competition subsidized by the state. This is supposed to be a no no for the inmate industries program. The most important argument that I heard was the cost of utilites, such as water and electrcity. From what I understand Omega was getting a huge reduction in their operating costs by getting water and power for nearly nothing which is very imporant in the climbing gear manufacturing process for hardware. While it is good for inmates to work I doubt anyone would like to see MSR or SMC have to layoff fine upstanding hard working folks because they were getting beat in the market place by a company receving unfare government subsidies. BYT I am not affiliate with any of these companies and am not involeved with any manufacturing company.

[catbirdseat]

If they were getting unfair subsidies, I should think solution should have been to end those subsities, rather than forbiding the use of prison labor.

[marylou]

In order to completely level the playing field with other businesses making goods locally, the prisoners would have to have a right to organize. Now whether or not people who are incarcerated SHOULD have this right's a whole 'nother kettle of fish, but it is a universal, or very close to it, right of workers here.

 

The right to organize is just one of many thorny issues with using prison labor.