Sharon Verbeten
Ruben Ortiz went from living behind bars to becoming an award-winning mentor for young adults with special needs. It didn’t happen overnight, but with the support of Valley Packaging Industries, Inc., Ortiz was able to find a job, turn his life around and make his second chapter much brighter than his first.
“I didn’t know what direction I was going to go,” says Ortiz, 67, who began working at VPI through a prison work release program about 18 years ago and continued with the organization after his release.
“I wanted to change my life,” Ortiz says. “It took time; I thought I could do it, but I needed some help.”
Offering disadvantaged citizens like Ortiz, as well as those with disabilities, a chance at a better life through vocational services, education and training is the mission of VPI, an Appleton-based nonprofit that has been doing just that — and much more under its vast umbrella — for more than 60 years.
In addition to providing those essential services, VPI is a community rehabilitation center offering vocational skills training to Fox Valley residents and manufacturing-related business services (such as custom packaging) to private industry. Its two Appleton facilities provide more than 800,000 square feet of packaging, production and warehouse space.
“I don’t think people understand our scale,” VPI President and CEO Tim Riebau says. “But when we can get potential customers in here, it’s easy to see.”
In addition to size, VPI is proud to claim one of the area’s most diverse workforces — almost one-third of its 500 employees are clients who face employment hurdles — whether due to disability, criminal background, poverty or mental health challenges. In 2019, VPI assisted more than 2,700 clients.
“We’re really a blended, diverse organization,” Riebau says. “When you see most of our (production) lines, you may not be able to tell who’s a client and who is not. With the labor market changing on us, we may have been one of the only companies willing to take a chance on an employee.”
Polly Tripp is thrilled that VPI took a chance on her son, Jack. And while trying to explain everything VPI does is complicated, its core mission is simple, honorable and, as Tripp can attest, “life-changing.”
Nineteen-year-old Jack, who has multiple disabilities, faced challenges his entire life, so Tripp was worried about what his life after high school might hold. But joining VPI’s Project Search, which provides a transitional school-to-work program, both brightened Jack’s future and allayed Polly’s fears.
“Moving forward from high school is a vulnerable time for all students, but especially among those with disabilities,” she says. “Suddenly entering the workforce on one’s own is an enormous leap to take, especially when a young adult has significant learning, developmental and processing issues. Jack was given a true gift in transitioning from student to employee within the structured and compassionate guidance of Project Search.”
Collaboration meets mission
VPI dates back to 1956, when L.C. Smith, Al Briggs and others established the company believing they could provide valuable training and vocational opportunities so people could live more dignified and independent lives. And it all started with a local powerhouse — and one of VPI’s longest-standing customers: Kimberly-Clark Corp.
Riebau says that in the 1950s an executive at K-C identified a need for co-packing services. Many individuals in the community had unique needs and needed a chance to work. So began VPI’s formula of solving customers’ packaging needs while also helping clients succeed.
But Riebau is quick to point out that despite VPI’s specialized objective, its customers still have high expectations. “Everybody likes doing business with VPI for our mission,” he says. “But we still have to be very good at what we do. A lot of our standards have been built around our bigger customers; we have to meet their standards.”
Among the services VPI provides are hand assembly, packaging, shrink wrapping and display assembly. Its space and logistics have also allowed it to house the Community Personal Protective Equipment Center during the pandemic, as well as the Fox Cities Diaper Bank for families in the United Way Fox Cities’ three-county service area.
“When we wanted to have a diaper bank, (VPI) stepped forward,” says Sandy Drexler, former vice president of resource development for United Way Fox Cities. Through the partnership, VPI provides warehousing, distribution and packaging of the much-needed personal care items.
Thanks to the success of the diaper bank, United Way gave VPI and Kimberly-Clark, which donates the product, its Excellence in Partnership Award in 2019.
Drexler says the diaper bank provides supplies for 1,000 babies per month in a three-county region — a number that has increased since the pandemic began.
“At the core, (VPI and United Way) are both interested in helping people improve their quality of life … we are happy to partner with that,” Drexler says, adding that United Way invests around $400,000 in VPI programs each year.
“You see the work they are doing, but it goes so far beyond that,” Drexler says. “Everybody needs a hand-up at some point; they are there and ready.”
That’s evidenced by the collaborations VPI has with school districts, chambers of commerce, community organizations and local companies. For example, Hoffmaster Group, a manufacturer of premium paper goods for the foodservice industry with three facilities in Northeast Wisconsin, has worked with VPI for at least 12 years.
“We’ve come to trust the quality of the work that they do, and we also know that they’re very good at making sure they’ve got the right labor workforce there to work at the right times,” Hoffmaster CEO Rory Leyden says. “Our two companies are really joined at the hip in terms of getting products to our end customer, and the fact that we’re able to provide opportunities (to their clients) is an important part of why we do business with VPI.”
Clients don’t just work at VPI’s locations, however. Trained in job preparation skills and development, some are placed at off-site employer partners, such as Sturm Foods in Manawa and Creative Converting in Clintonville.
Riebau says job placement is about finding the right spot for the right person — both in-house and off-site. “We align them with what their goals and skill sets are. We’ve got tons of support mechanisms.”
He recalls speaking with a parent whose daughter on the autism spectrum had worked in retail but had a hard time keeping a job. After meeting staff and touring the VPI plant, the young woman found her right fit.
“It’s a perfect example of what we can do for people,” Riebau says.
The other side of VPI
When some people hear the name Valley Packaging Industries, Inc., they assume co-packing is all the company does. But while the name works well when dealing with business partners, it doesn’t fully describe the breadth of VPI’s scope in terms of rehabilitation, mental health and early intervention services.
“We’re always looking at unmet needs in the community,” says Megan Gerl, VPI’s director of mental health and education. Last year alone, VPI helped 177 participants through its mental health programs.
VPI’s social services aid families from birth to work life. Its Early Intervention Birth to 3 Program provides support for families of children with developmental delays or special needs in Winnebago and Outagamie counties.
“Our goal is to build the capacity of families to promote their own child’s development and learning,” VPI Program Director Wendy Hein says.
The organization took a short in-person pause during the pandemic, but since it was considered an essential business it continued serving about 275 families.
Other programs include emergency relief services (Community 2000, which serves rural Outagamie County) in partnership with United Way Fox Cities. And earlier this year, VPI received a grant from the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region’s Basic Needs Giving Partnership for its mental health support teenage/young adult programming at its Community OutReach Center (ORC), also with United Way Fox Cities. VPI’s ORC is a mental health center serving individuals in the Fox Valley whose primary diagnosis is mental health, substance use or dual diagnosis.
Riebau realizes VPI may be somewhat of an enigma due to its vast reach. “Are we trying to be too many things to too many people?” he posits, then quickly responds. “There’s nothing we’re doing that doesn’t align with our mission.”
And, ultimately, that mission is a big win for both customers — whether small startups or Fortune 500 companies like Kimberly-Clark — or clients and employees like Tripp and Ortiz.
“When you walk out and you see your clients, they’re always happy,” Riebau says, engaging in some playful banter with a client about an upcoming Packers game on the line one Tuesday afternoon.
“It just makes you feel good about what you do, across everything you do.”
Helping clients succeed
To ensure that all clients and employees can pursue their career aspirations, Valley Packaging Industries, Inc. uses its TALENT (Train, Assist, Learn, Empower, Navigate, Triumph) Initiative, led by Matt Busch, VPI’s client development and production integration manager.
When VPI faced labor shortages due to the pandemic, it needed to focus more keenly on the clients and in-house talent it did have. TALENT acts as a liaison between VPI’s production and rehabilitation services.
“Sometimes those worlds collide,” VPI CEO Tim Riebau says, noting that VPI identifies individuals and cross-trains them for other jobs.
“People can do a lot more than even what we thought they could do,” he adds. “It saved us from a production side, and it’s much more inclusive.”
One example is Ruben Ortiz, who formerly worked in production but was recently promoted to job coach, as well as a TALENT supervisor. It’s a big accolade for Ortiz, who was raised in Chicago and got entangled in gangs and later ended up in prison on drug charges.
“I never was able to hold a strong job, but when I went (to VPI) I had my mind made up that I wanted to change my life,” Ortiz says.
“I felt good about the job; I felt good about working with special needs individuals.”
Now Ortiz mentors others, and he recently received an All Star Mentor Award from the NEW Manufacturing Alliance.
“I wasn’t afraid to take on a challenge.”
Valley Packaging Industries, Inc.
Founded: 1956
Employees: Integrated workforce of about 500; about one-third of workers are clients served by VPI.
Location: Appleton
President and CEO: Tim Riebau
What it does: A 501 (c)(3) community rehabilitation center that provides vocational and educational training and job placement services for individuals with disabilities and those who are disadvantaged.
The umbrella also includes its Early Intervention Birth to 3 Program, emergency relief services, day center activities and mental health services in addition to the custom packaging services its employees provide to customers.
vpind.com
