Prison Industries installs cubicles in Washington business

    Washington Title and Guaranty Company has a number of new cubicles in its office thanks to Iowa Prison Industries. A crew of three inmates from the Newton Correctional Facility installed desks and partition walls over a three-day period beginning Monday.

    The crew supervisor is Dan Crook, who is also an Iowa Prison Industries technician. He said that Prison Industries does work primarily for governmental and non-profit organizations so it does not affect private sector commerce. Prison Industries is doing the work for Washington Title Company because the business?s owner, Richard Bordwell, sits on the State Parole Board.

    Crook said all of the pieces used to construct the cubicles were manufactured by prisoners at other correctional facilities in Iowa. He said the prison in Anamosa has a sheet-metal and woodworking shop, which is where the desks and partitions were made.

    ?We?ve taken out pews at churches and sent them to the women?s prison in Mitchellville to be reupholstered,? said Crook. ?The finishing is done at Anamosa, and after that our crew installs the pews.?

    The work at Washington Title is an opportunity for the inmates to interact with people on the outside world, said Crook. 

    ?These guys are all in for non-violent offenses,? he said. ?They have less than three years remaining on their sentence. This gives them a chance to get out of the prison for a while. They all seem to enjoy it. They have a great work ethic. I?ve been with Prison Industries for two years now, and I?ve never had an incident with any of the guys. They?re good guys to work with; they just happened to take a wrong turn in life.?

For more, see our April 7 print edition.