The fate of the Stoddard County Sheltered Workshop is still unknown as the date draws near for a new facility, Stoddard County Progressive Industries, Inc., to open its doors to employ Stoddard County's developmentally delayed. The new facility will house a clothing recycle store that will carry the name, "Echoes," and is scheduled to open in early March.
The move to construct a new "workshop" type facility -- although it reportedly will not carry the workshop name -- began in August 2017 following years of ongoing contention between the SB40 Board and the Sheltered Workshop. The workshop employs about 43 disabled workers currently. Monies that help support the workshop, but fall significantly short of totally supporting the operation, stem primarily from recycling done at the center.
By way of definition, the Senate Bill 40 Board (SB40), established in 1969, was established to oversee programs for the developmentally disabled. The bill enabled voters to approve a tax to pay for services for persons with certain handicapping conditions. The board has nine members, all of whom are appointed by the Stoddard County Commission. The SB40 Board receives the tax dollars which, at least in part, help support the Stoddard County ARC, the Sheltered Workshop and the county's group homes for the handicapped. The bill has undergone several amendments over the years.
The SB40 Board contracts with an agency called Targeted Case Management, Inc. for administration.
SB40 members include Joe Weber, who has served on the board since its inception; Clay Prough, who has served for decades; Larry McGonigal, Sheila Alsup, Deb McKay, Robin Rickman, Bonnie Blue, Sherri Holifield and most recently named to the board, Bloomfield attorney Don Rhodes.
In March 2017, a comprehensive inspection of the workshop, which is located on Center Street just off of Business 60 in Dexter, revealed the need for significant repairs and renovations. Among many findings was a need for new heat and air units and a lighting upgrade. Electrical safety issues and drainage issues were also noted, along with several other needs. The metal building was constructed in the 1970s and has 23,000 sq. feet of space. Suggested upgrades to the facility were projected to cost about $340,000, which the SB40 board found to be unreasonable and decided instead to proceed with plans to build a new facility.
The SB40 Board requested to meet with the workshop board on June 8, 2017. When only two workshop board members appeared for the meeting, the SB40 Board asked that those two speak to the other workshop board members regarding their interest in construction of a new facility. No other meetings transpired, and at the SB40 July 20, 2017 meeting, board members voted to proceed with construction of a new facility. It was noted that the SB40 Board would be seeking new management for the new operation and would not retain the services of current workshop manager, Jim LaBrot. LaBrot has managed the Stoddard County Workshop for the past 37 years.
Much of the contention involving the two entities stem from management of the workshop and demands of the SB40 Board. The SB40 Board contends that LaBrot has lost contracts for the workshop, including a contract with the city for cleaning the park facilities, due to poor management.
In 2009, the SB40 Board, in an effort to seek more accountability from workshop management, established a contract to be signed by LaBrot. It was the first time LaBrot had been asked to sign a formal contract.
In November 2017, the SB40 Board voted not to offer LaBrot or the workshop a new contract for 2018, based on the findings of the inspection and the refusal on LaBrot's part to turn over invoices for payment that the SB40 Board said were required.
"The Sheltered Workshop is self-governing, and we function independently," LaBrot said at the time. He further explained that the workshop operated under the Department of Education, not the SB40 Board.
On Friday, Jan. 19, LaBrot told the Statesman that Dana McClure, Administrator for the
Stoddard County Sheltered Facilities Board and Targeted Case Management, wants to "micro-manage" the workshop, and that she does not have the authority to do so.
LaBrot noted that he has received 37 clean audits during his tenure with the workshop, and that he answers to the Department of Secondary and Elementary Education (DESE), and not the SB40 Board, even though that board does filter funds for a portion of the workshop's operation costs.
The decision in November to refrain from renewing the workshop's contract -- which means no more funding will come through the SB40 Board for operational or any other purpose -- did not come lightly, explained one board member.
"It was one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make," stated an emotional Sheila Alsup. "But, in the end, you have to see that taxpayer money is being spent as it should be, and that the disabled are well served."
Alsup named three primary items that she felt played a vital role in the board's decision to not renew the contract.
"Cooperation, transparency and accountability," she said, are key, and that is what was lacking.
DESE's Response
Dan Gier with DESE oversees Sheltered Workshop operations in Missouri and told the Statesman his office is responsible for renewing a "Certificate of Authority" with each workshop in Missouri.
"The department also has a Field Audit - On Site visit by the department. Part of this visit is to verify the administrative compliance with the regulations governing the workshop and includes a safety work through."
Gier stated three additional times a year, visits are paid to the workshops to offer technical advice regarding federal and state regulations.
Gier also said the workshop's board of directors and manager are responsible for the daily operation of the organization.
Funding
The newly built facility will not operate under DESE, and therefore will not receive any funds from DESE. On the flip side, the present workshop -- should they remain in operation -- will not receive any funds from SB40. LaBrot says it remains to be seen if he can operate the workshop without those funds. The SB40 Board voted at last week, upon the suggestion of Board Vice President Clay Prough, to pay the local past due bills from the workshop. The bills had been held pending the presentation of invoices from the workshop. A stack of older unpaid bills are in the hands of Rhodes, who agreed he could seek the appropriate invoicing for payment purposes. The workshop had in recent weeks referred any questions regarding payment to the Sheltered Workshop's legal counsel. The name of that counsel was not released.
Questions Abound
Rhodes, the newest appointed member on the SB40 Board, is in clear opposition of the new construction and questioned at last week's meeting not only the quality of construction, but the method the board will use to repay the $1,278,447 borrowed to construct the new Industries building and the offices that will house Targeted Case Management.
"It's still in the construction phase," Prough told Rhodes.
"I understand that," Rhodes retorted, and then asked how many years it was going to take to pay back the loan.
"I think it's over 20 years," McClure said, referring to the length of the loan. McClure said she believed the loan was set up at four percent interest, but that the interest would vary over the years.
Rhodes said he had run an amortization sheet and projected the monthly payment on the new buildings would exceed $8,000.
"Can this organization afford to make payments like that?" he asked.
Board Member Alsup explained that as soon as the office for Targeted Case Management got moved into the new facility, they would be paying the SB40 Board $1,500 per month rent that would go toward the cost of the loan. McKay also noted that if and when the new "workshop" gets contracts underway, they would have those proceeds to go toward the loan as well.
Prough then offered to Rhodes, "We have enough money in the bank right now to pay this loan off."
"But part of that money's borrowed, isn't it?" questioned Rhodes, to which Weber responded, "No, it's all cash," and Weber credited the work of the board over the years with accumulating that balance.
In the end, Board Chair Joe Weber made a request of McClure to draw up a proposed budget for the SB40 Board, which will be reviewed in the near future.
The Thrift Store
The primary source of income of the disabled working at the new industry, "Stoddard County Progressive Industries, Inc.," will be wages earned by working at what will be called, "Echoes," a recycle clothing shop within the facility.
Some in the community have voiced concerns with such an operation being in direct conflict with the Stoddard County Gospel Mission, whose proceeds go directly to feed the hungry within the county.
Asked about this conflict recently, McClure stated, "I do not see this is a conflict with the Stoddard County Gospel Mission. I am hoping that we can work with the Gospel Mission and other businesses in the area to promote Dexter."
LaBrot contends that since the thrift store will not be operating under DESE, they will be required to pay minimum wage to their workers, which he says will force the reduction of the employees' SSI benefits. The workshop is authorized to pay sub-minimum wages which assures the disabled of earning a paycheck and serving as valued employees, but with no interruption of SSI benefits. It is an issue that has yet to be addressed.