Before he began working at
Nehemiah Manufacturing Co., Shawn Reed had trouble holding down a job.
A history of run-ins with the law and instability in his personal life were roadblocks to building any kind of employment track record or hopeful future. He was the type of worker that most companies weed out during their hiring process.
He is exactly the kind of employee that Nehemiah wants to hire, however.
Dan Meyer and Richard Palmer founded Nehemiah in 2009. Both have successful track records in business with companies such as Procter & Gamble and Changing Paradigms, an $80 million retail brands company. They wanted to use these skills to run a successful business with a higher goal than just making a profit. They wanted to help the chronically unemployed in the inner city achieve steady work and the hope of a better future.
"We want to have a positive impact on lives and on the community," says Meyer, CEO, of his mission in founding Nehemiah, named for the old testament prophet who helped rebuild Jerusalem. "We have the experience and now we want to take that and do something more than just make money."
Nehemiah has licensed the "orphaned" brand,
Kandoo, a line of toddler soaps and shampoo products developed by Procter & Gamble that with $15 million in annual sales was too small for the consumer products giant to continue in-house. It will also take on contract manufacturing and secondary packaging for large manufacturers such as P&G.
Meyer says that many downtown residents live in poverty and yet have few options when it comes to finding employment due to criminal records, lack of transportation, or lack of job skills.
His goal was to address all of those issues. First, by locating Nehemiah on Findlay Street near the corner of Dalton in the West End, nearby residents in Over-The-Rhine can get to work without a car, and second, by creating a manufacturing and packaging company, he can hire workers with low job skills and help them build on those skills for advancement. The company also seeks to give workers with criminal records a second chance.
The company philosophy has given Reed, 46, now with Nehemiah six months, a new outlook on life, and has made him appreciate work in a way that he never did before.
"It's given me an opportunity when all the other doors were shut," says Reed, whose longest employment stint before Nehemiah was a year at a fast food restaurant. "I look forward to coming to work every day now."
Brad Mueller, executive director of
Jobs Plus Employment Network, a non-profit employment outreach program that helps the underemployed and former prison inmates get life skills training and find work, says that Nehemiah is a bright spot in an otherwise bleak employment outlook for low-skilled workers.
"There's not a lot of companies that will hire these workers," he says. "Some of them are perfectly capable of working, but no one will give them a chance. Nehemiah is one of the few that will. They are a great addition to downtown."
A Cincinnati native, Meyer says he could not sit back and watch as jobs evaporated in the inner city, leaving thousands stranded in poverty with few options for a better way of life.
The downtown area was once home to many manufacturers who offered a living wage and chances for advancement. He wants to see Nehemiah help to fill the void in that space now.
So far, Nehemiah has increased sales of the Kandoo brand roughly 30 percent at some of the top national retailers, such as Target and Kroger. They have invested in new marketing and promotions that have made the Kandoo wipes product one of the leaders in its category, says Palmer.
They also recently took on a secondary packaging project for a new P&G product, Pampers Changing Kit, which they anticipate will grow to become a strong source of new jobs.
"P&G supports our mission," says Meyer. "They want to see us succeed."
In the next two to three years, Meyer and Palmer say they hope to grow the business enough to hire as many as 100 workers. Eventually, they'd like to employ more than 1,000. At the moment, they vary between a dozen and two dozen in a given week.
Finding applicants to fill those jobs won't be a problem, they say. Keeping the jobs coming fast enough might be. But they are committed to the mission.
"We both have a passion for making a lasting difference in the city," says Palmer. "This area has the fewest employment opportunities and the greatest need. We want to be part of the solution."
Photography by Scott Beseler.
Nehemiah assembly line
Richard Palmer
Packaging Kandoo on the assembly line
Flushable wipes
Pampers Kandoo marketing
Nehemiah assembly line