If you have spent any time on our website, you have seen that the products we offer are made in the USA, hand craft with pride in the heart of Tennessee. What you probably didn’t know, is that some of those “hands” that craft this awesome product are incarcerated individuals…..that’s right, prisoners. Our engineered flooring is manufactured by American OEM on the property of the Turney Center Industrial Complex in Only, Tennessee. This is part of what’s called a Prison Industry Enhancement Certification Program (PIECP), which is a voluntary program which in this case employs incarcerated individuals to help manufacture engineered wood flooring.
The Prison Industry Enhancement Certification Program (PIECP) exempts certified state and local departments of corrections from normal restrictions on the sale of inmate-made good in interstate commerce. Basically this means that if a jurisdiction becomes certified under the PIECP, then the inmate-made goods of these jurisdictions can ultimately be sold to the general public. To become certified, each program must demonstrate to the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance, U.S. Department of Justice, that it meets the statutory and guidelines requirements that are mandatory for program participation.
The PIECP was created by Congress in 1989 to encourage states and units of local government to establish employment opportunities for inmates that are similar to private-sector work opportunities. The program is designed to place inmates in a realistic work environment, pay them a prevailing local wage for similar work and enable them to acquire marketable skills to increase their potential for successful rehabilitation and meaningful employment upon release.
Prison Industry Enhancement (PIE) programs have a proven track record of rehabilitation, reducing recidivism rates from 50% to less than 10%. AS part of this voluntary program, with the civilian wage the inmates earn the State apportions part of that wage to help individuals pay victims’ restitution, family and child support, room and board, as well as contribute to personal savings.
Inmates employed by PIE programs, especially the program that manufactures our engineered wood floors, also acquire vital work skills and experience. They take pride in their craftsmanship and the products they create. After their release, the inmates who have participated in the program have critical work skills and experience. They are better equipped to transition back into family life, society and work.
The developers of the program that manufactures the engineered wood flooring we offer have established eight PIE programs for flooring manufacturing throughout the country. They first started manufacturing flooring in 1996 and then five years later started a hand scraping process. The program at the Turney Center facility includes a high-volume production line, a small-batch line and hand scraping – a hand-finishing process that would be difficult to achieve in a highly automated environment.
“Hand Crafted with Pride” is a real thing. Those involved in the PIE program that manufactures the engineered wood floors we offer take genuine pride and play close attention to detail in every bard produced. This is evident in the quality, performance and beauty of the product. This is something we are proud of too………