Second Chances

Why this steel-processing plant offers hope to recovering addicts

- George Vorel

I’M THE FOUNDER AND OWNER OF an industrial steel processing company in Carnegie, Pennsyl-vania, called Envirosafe. Our 25 employees sandblast large pieces of fabricated steel, then apply coatings and paint to prepare the steel per strict specifications for construction projects across the United States. Drive over a bridge or walk into a building and it’s possible Envirosafe processed the steel for it.

It’s tough, exacting work. Giant forklifts and cranes carry up to 20-ton pieces of steel to sandblasting machines that have to be adjusted precisely for every job. Full-time inspectors on our 80,000-square-foot factory floor ensure that the steel we process is safe to use in construction. Employees must be focused, alert and ready to respond if something goes wrong.

Surprising as it may seem, Envirosafe welcomes job applicants who have a history of alcohol and drug abuse, arrests and even stints in prison. We’ve hired a number of guys with backgrounds like that. Some of them have established successful careers here.

Why would such a high-skill, high risk industrial operation go out of its way to help people most employers wouldn’t consider—especially industrial employers?

There’s a story behind that question. My family’s story. I’ve learned through experience that addicts and anyone else who makes a big mistake in life deserve—no, need—a second chance. No one should be shut out of society because they were ensnared by addiction to drugs or alcohol. If I didn’t believe that, my wife, Marg, and I would have given up on our own daughter a long time ago. We didn’t give up, and neither did she. And so neither does Envirosafe.