From left, Mark Milk, Terry Van Zanten and Aaron “Coco” Andrews of Metal Craft Industries. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)
South Dakota Department of Corrections Secretary Kellie Wasko described Metal Craft Industries as a private business exploiting cheap inmate labor.
At least some of the inmates who worked there for decades disagree.
The private business spent more than two decades employing maximum security inmates, paying prevailing wages that allowed them to pay room and board to the state, child support to their families and restitution to crime victims.
Wasko’s concerns about Metal Craft don’t make sense to the former inmate employees who now work for the company on the outside.
Long-term inmates helped Metal Craft maintain institutional knowledge and quality control, owner Terry Van Zanten said. But the inmates were offered something to wake up for and be proud of as they stared down a life behind bars.
Those who were able to leave, meanwhile, did so on surer footing than most other parolees.