By Shefali Kapadia
Drew Crowe had been incarcerated multiple times and was stuck in a vicious cycle, as he described it: getting “locked up,” lacking skills and having no idea how to craft a resume or secure a job. Crowe found a turning point when a manufacturing employer hired him to work as a third-shift saw operator.
“It kept my mind busy. It kept my body busy,” he said. “It gave me purpose.”
Crowe now leads the New American Manufacturing Renaissance, which consults and advises manufacturers on hiring formerly incarcerated individuals, a process known as second-chance hiring.
His journey underscores the opportunity that manufacturing affords to people coming out of the prison system, due to the industry’s focus on skill building for workers in entry-level jobs and its push to recruit from a broader array of talent to mitigate workforce shortages.
SHEFALI KAPADIA 