Local company turning lives around

By Ted Oberg

(2/13/07 - KTRK/HOUSTON)

Two and a half years ago, Richard Pitts was at home, unemployed and unable to support his family. 

"I went to prison for selling dope," he said.

After three years in prison and just 21 years old, he was facing a tough life. Statistics show he had a 1 in 3 chance of going back to prison. Without a job, the odds were even worse. 

"You fill out an application. As soon as you put it on there that you've been incarcerated, they throw it in the trash," said Pitts.

It changed when he walked in Venture Tech. There, Pitts is a welder, working under a general manager who got his job while living at a halfway house. 

"I've been a drug addict for 19 years," said Will McMillon with Venture Tech.

A third of the workforce here was either in prison or addicted to drugs or alcohol. Everyone here knows and the boss wants you to know, too.

"If you go into their backgrounds, if you do those checks, they're going to fail," said Venture Tech owner Larry Keast. "They'll be unemployable like everywhere else. We're out to show there's another way."

Keast met the first addict he hired when he was a parent group leader in a substance abuse program. It's grown from there, but he doesn't want to give the idea his company is some sort of recovery program. This is a job first. 

"We're holding hands and we're kicking butts," said Keast. "We're giving hugs, but you're gone if you terminate yourself by breaking the rules."

"We've had as many successes as we have had failures," said McMillon.

Some employees have gone back to drinking, drugs or even prison. 

"And so people say, 'If it's that hard, is it worth it?' And I say 'Yeah, it's really worth it. It's so much better in my company,'" said Keast.

It works for the company, but it works for you, too. Unemployment is one of the biggest reasons convicts go back to crime. Every ex-offender or addict this place keeps out of prison saves Texas taxpayers nearly $15,000 a year. 

"I am not proud of all the things I've done in the past," said Pitts. "I am not proud of that, no. I am proud to say I have a second chance and that means everything to me."

Keast, the company's owner, tell us it's not enough to hear his story. He wants other companies to try it. He has two websites set up for ex-prison offenders or drug addicts to post resumes. Those sites are AmericaInRecovery.com and NoUturns.org. 
(Copyright © 2007, KTRK-TV)