Damascus celebrates five-year partnership with southwest Ohio employment partner
Nearly 700 individuals in the Cincinnati region have received the opportunity to start over, gain permanent employment and begin a new chapter as tax-paying citizens, thanks to the good work and talented staff of Pioneer Cladding and Glazing, located in Mason, Ohio.
"We believe in second chances, obviously," said David Hensley, Pioneer's Shop Safety Specialist "And we definitely learned a whole lot along the way."
A manufacturer that specializes in exterior facade and custom unitized curtain walls, Pioneer began hiring Damascus workers in 2016; it was the first Cincinnati-based employer to pilot the Damascus Reentry Model. After five years and hundreds of winning workplace stories, Pioneer and Damascus celebrate the success of marrying strong business principles with innovative reentry strategies.
"So much of what we've learned about a truly successful economic partnership has come from our time with Pioneer," said Damascus Chief Strategy Officer Christine Marallen. "We've stayed in the trenches together, figured out how to zig and zag, and hundreds of lives and families have been changed because of that."
Not only has Pioneer welcomed, trained, and supported individuals who are returning to society and the workplace, they have promoted some of those workers into leadership positions at their plant. Pioneer works closely with the entire Damascus team and most closely with the Client Rep who selects and walks alongside the workers who are a good fit for Pioneer.
"Damascus does what it says it's going to do, every time," said Pioneer's Hensley. "I can't count on that from other (organizations). "Damascus has a great team of people. Otherwise, we wouldn't still be doing this with them."
At any given time, 20-50 Damascus individuals begin work at Pioneer for a 90-day temp-to-hire work plan. The goal is always permanent employment.
"It's reentry that works," said Marallen.
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