Joplin Workshops loses Freeman contract

Local News

Related Photos

Patty Robertson (background) and Mary Ludiker fold towels this week on the job at Joplin Workshops. The sheltered-workshop operation is losing a laundry contract with Freeman Health System for laundry services, and faces cutting back on employee hours. Globe/Roger Nomer

Discussion

August 27, 2010

By Wally Kennedy Globe Staff Writer The Joplin Globe Fri Aug 27, 2010, 10:14 PM CDT

JOPLIN, Mo. — Joplin Workshops, which provides employment for 144 disabled people, will lose a major laundry contract with Freeman Health System on Sept. 1.

The contract with Freeman accounts for 30 percent of Joplin Workshops’ laundry business.

“I don’t want to lose 30 percent of our employees. We are working hard to fill that capacity back up,’’ said Ron Sampson, director of Joplin Workshops.

The employees, who are paid an hourly wage, will experience a cutback in the number of hours they will work. The cutbacks will vary according to the jobs they perform in the laundry.

In the meantime, Joplin Workshops is exploring creation of a new recycling business with Downstream Casino and Resort that could help bring additional work to the workshop’s employees and fill the void.

Christen Stark, media coordinator for Freeman Health System, released this statement about Freeman’s decision: “Following the economic downturn in 2008 and a $20 million deficit, Freeman Health System began to review contracts that expired in 2009 and 2010.

“While Freeman respects the value of Healthcare Linen Specialists and its employees, another company submitted a bid for laundry services that provided substantial savings over a five-year period. In order to continue our mission of improving the healthcare of the communities we serve, we must operate with fiscal responsibility to serve the best interests of our patients.’’

The recycling project with Downstream involves the reuse of unused shampoo and conditioner, and bar soap from the casino’s hotel. Sampson said the idea was being championed by John Berrey, chairman of the Quapaw Tribe.

Sean Harrison, spokesman for Downstream, said, “It’s a good project in a number of ways. Recycling is good for the environment, giving away the recycled product to the homeless shelters helps people and it gives Joplin Workshops additional work to do.

For more of this story, see Saturday's edition of The Joplin Globe.

Text Only

Local News

Cattle prices reach record highs as inventories drop to 60-year lows
Just a few years ago, a 700-pound steer calf brought 60 cents a pound for Jim McCann, a cattleman who lives near Miller. Now, a comparable calf may bring nearly three times that amount, McCann said Tuesday.

February 8, 2012 1 Photo
GALLERY: Missouri Arts Council honors Joplin as Creative Community
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Joplin’s creativity was heralded in a state award presented Wednesday, but it was the town’s resiliency that earned it a standing ovation from arts supporters and state legislators attending ceremonies at the Capitol.

February 8, 2012 1 Photo 1 Slideshow
‘A creek runs through it’ concept posed for new JHS
The Joplin Board of Education got its first peek at preliminary architectural renderings for the new Joplin High School at a special meeting Wednesday night. Architects from DLR Group, based in Omaha, Neb., and Corner Greer & Associates, based in Joplin, presented the plans to the board for its blessing to move forward with the design concept.

February 8, 2012
Synthetic pot cited in charge; two girls sick
An 18-year-old Neosho resident was charged with child endangerment after being accused of supplying two teenage girls with “incense,” or synthetic marijuana, that made them sick enough Tuesday night to require hospital treatment.

February 8, 2012
Judge overrules defense motions in infant death case
A judge has denied a recent series of motions by Eddie Salazar’s attorney to get statements he made to police suppressed before his trial next month on a charge that he murdered his 8-month-old son two years ago.

February 8, 2012
Kansan describes trips into space during PSU visit
Everyone had a reason Wednesday afternoon for heading to Yates Hall at Pittsburg State University. Kansas native Steven Hawley was there to make a presentation called “The Engineering, Scientific and Cultural Legacy of the Space Shuttle,” which attempted to fit into 30 minutes 30 years of human space flight and what we have learned from it.

February 8, 2012
Authorities not sure whether gun had any role in death
An autopsy is scheduled to be performed today on a body discovered inside a mobile home that was destroyed by fire late Tuesday night.

February 8, 2012
MSSU president says governor’s proposal provides some relief
Bruce Speck, president of Missouri Southern State University, on Wednesday said Gov. Jay Nixon’s plan to restore $40 million of his proposed $106 million cut to higher education would help ease the university’s situation.

February 8, 2012
Mike Pound: Honoring a great lady and a life well lived
Dorothy Parker’s friends and family will tell you she knew how to live. The transplant from New Iberia, La., took Neosho by storm when she relocated there in 1993. In 1994, Dorothy suggested that the folks at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 305 W. Spring St., put on a Mardi Gras dinner, and she offered to do the bulk of the cooking.

February 8, 2012
Mo. AG candidates objects to birth control order
Republican attorney general candidate Ed Martin wants Missouri to object to a federal decision requiring church-affiliated employers to cover birth control.

February 8, 2012
More Local News Headlines

Cattle prices reach record highs as inventories drop to 60-year lows

Local News

Search Results

Related Photos

Discussion

Joplin Workshops loses Freeman contract

A Missouri lawmaker has filed legislation that would allow Interstate 70 to be turned into a toll road allowing a private company to fix the interstate in exchange for tolls. Do you think this bill should pass?

Site Map

Contact Us