Sheltered Workshop has expanded in the past 40 years

Sheltered Workshop director Joe Bruno spoke to the crowd at the 40th anniversary celebration.

“I want to most of all thank the employees, they not only do good work they do excellent work,” Bruno said. “This place was started in 1977 by concerned citizens of our community to provide dignified work for people with disabilities after they got out of the school system. Today, we are truly part of the community. If you watch close enough on any given day, you’ll see some of us going out in Salem cutting grass, picking up cardboard and working on woodworking projects. I want to also thank our customers. They are wonderful to us, and we thank them from the bottom of our hearts.”

The workshop moved from the building where Annie’s Grill on Scenic Rivers Blvd. is now located in 1986, into its current location. In 2015, the workshop tore off the old part of the building and have been there since.

The workshop started out with 15 employees in 1977, and there are now 28 workers and five staff employed. The staff transports some of the workers to and from work, with two different routes. The workshop is always looking to bring in new people with disabilities to work, and hope to have a new project making birdhouses for a company in O’Fallon.

Jannette Pickett also spoke to the crowd June 22. She is a former sheltered workshop employee who has gone on to full-time employment with Royal Oak Enterprises.

“I worked here for two years, and nine months ago I was offered a job at Royal Oak Enterprises here in Salem,” Pickett said. “The first month I was already promoted, and I am now an operator. It would not have been possible if it wasn’t for the Sheltered Workshop giving me a chance to prove myself. That’s what every one of the employees here do. They do a fabulous job, and I miss them a lot.”

The jobs that the Sheltered Workshop performs include filling three million Easter eggs a year for a company in Marshfield; drilling, assembling, packaging, and shipping 30,000 Purple Martin products for S&K Manufacturing in O’Fallon; having several commercial customers, and some residential customers, for lawn care; woodworking projects, such as picnic tables, benches, bird houses, well houses, and more; and various small jobs that customers call in for.

For the City of Salem, the workshop is replacing the benches that are located at Al Brown Fields. They have built the stages that are used for various events at the Salem Community Center @ the Armory. The newest job for Piney Paws, Licking, is packaging small animal litter and cat litter.

Libby Sanders helped found the Sheltered Workshop in 1977.

“We just got the ball rolling, other people took leadership and made it what it is today,” she says. “I could have never imagined 40 years ago it would be so successful.”

For more information about the Sheltered Workshop/Scenic Rivers Industries, Inc., contact Joe Bruno at 729-6264, or email sri@scenicriversind.org. The workshop is located at 601 South Walker Street and is open Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Scenic River Industries, Inc. can be found online at www.scenicriversind.org.