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Mike Wilson, will establish a Philemon Project shop at Simmesport's new community center in the former Dunbar High/Simmesport Elementary site.

Simmesport Rising: ‘Philemon Project’ will make participants ‘job ready’

{Editor’s Note: This series looks at several programs and initiatives aimed at improving various aspects of Simmesport’s quality of life.}
Two largely ignored sources of labor have more in common than one might imagine, Sophia Design Group founder Mike Wilson said.

Wilson plans to provide a job training/manufacturing shop as part of Simmesport’s community outreach program in the former Dunbar High.

He said Sophia’s “Philemon Project” is designed to help veterans and convicted felons successfully re-enter society.

Simmesport appears to be a good site for the program.

“Sophia Design Group is a commercial millwork company that manufactures high-end woodwork, marble counters, etc.,” Wilson said.

The company has been in business in the Dallas area for almost four years, but Wilson has been in the design business for 30 years.

He was a combat engineer in the U.S. Army from 1982-86.

In 2015 the company started the Philemon Project, training released felons and veterans in woodworking and other job skills. He has been pleased with the results.

“In the past 2 1/2 years, we have trained about 40 felons,” Wilson said. “Of that number, only three went back to prison. Of those three, two had pending charges against them that we were unaware of until they were already in training.

“I can tell you that based on what we saw when they were with us, those two men will have a place to go when they get out,” he added.

CREDIT TO GOD
Wilson is not ashamed to give all credit to God for the “life-changing” results he has seen in those who have gone through his “Christ-centered business model.”

Wilson hopes to create a small manufacturing shop in Simmesport to serve his customers in this, and other countries.

He said the group makeup will be no more than half felons, to ensure there is a good mix of personalities and to avoid having a shop that is predominantly ex-convicts.

“In the shop, I don’t treat the felons any differently than I do any other employee,” Wilson said. “Neither do our customers who come in contact with them. All that matters is that they do a good job.”

That attitude of putting the employee’s past behind him also helps the employee put that past behind him.

“The reality of our economy is that there is a shortage of skilled labor,” Wilson said. “Actually, there’s also a shortage of unskilled labor.

“We take the veterans and the felons, teach them basic job skills, such as how to show up on time,“ Wilson continued. “Then we teach them how to operate a forklift, so they are certified in forklift operations. Then we teach them how to safely use the various saws.”

Other skills are also taught to give the employee the ability to pursue more training in an area he prefers.

Wilson emphasizes that the program is not a school or a classroom-only exercise.

“Everything we do is produced for our manufacturing needs,” he said.

It is a truly satisfying feeling to see a roomful of unskilled, possibly even almost hopeless, men turn into professionals able to go to work as a millworker, electrician, painter or other occupation, he said.

VETERANS AND FELONS

“Veterans and felons have the same dynamics as a group,” Wilson said. “In both cases they are trying to return to society and leave their past skills behind. They have both done things they wouldn’t normally do in society and many have seen things they shouldn’t have been forced to see.”

He said felons and veterans get along surprisingly well.

“In our experience, we have found the veterans to have a more positive attitude when things get tough,” Wilson said. “They are able to help the felons get through those hard times.”

He said Sophia Design uses its contacts with many companies worldwide to not only secure orders for the Philemon crew to fill, but as a possible job opportunity when it is time for them to move on.

“When we finish with them, they will be able to get jobs anywhere because we have vetted them as being able to do the job,” Wilson said.

The first task to accomplish in Simmesport is to “see what kind of work force we have, then see what is needed and how much it will cost to get the program started.”

Wilson said he will be looking at the proposed Simmesport outreach programs ”to figure out how we can help with the school.”

He said he is able to “throw equipment at it and hire people,” but he wants the program to be successful and lasting to provide a steady source of skilled labor for the community.

Wilson said it is important for people -- especially the “hard-to-place” workers in the ranks of veterans and felons -- to be properly trained and prepared for the workplace.

In the case of the ex-convict, “the fact is, that if you don’t have something for them (ex-convicts) to do, they will go back to doing what they did that got them locked up in the first place,” he added.

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