WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today Belden President, CEO and Chairman of the Board John Stroup joined President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, senior government officials and a select group of company executives at the White House to discuss public and private sector efforts aimed at addressing the opioid epidemic – a crisis the administration deemed a public health emergency one year ago.
Stroup highlighted Belden’s innovative Pathways to Employment program as an example of how Belden is leaning into the problem of addiction in the community and the workforce. Pathways to Employment is a community-based solution blending drug-rehabilitation with the promise of employment for new and existing workers willing to lead drug-free lives.
“Belden intends to expand our rehabilitation and employment program to two additional United States facilities in 2019 and provide a blueprint of best practices for other companies to implement similar programs,” Stroup announced at the White House event.
As the United States continues to fight this epidemic, Pathways has made a significant impact on the community of Richmond, Indiana and with Belden associates, as well as with local, state federal government officials. In September, Second Lady Karen Pence, Secretary of Labor Alex Acosta, Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams and Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway visited the manufacturing plant to learn about the Pathways to Employment program and meet with participants. Also last month, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation named Belden as a finalist in their Corporate Citizenship Awards in the category of Best Community Improvement Program.
“We are grateful for the administration’s recognition of the Pathways to Employment program,” said Stroup. “We know that Belden is not unique in facing recruitment and workplace challenges exacerbated by substance abuse. Our hope and our goal in sharing our experiences is to be a resource for organizations and communities impacted by addiction.”
In order to scale the program to different organizations and regions, the company is developing the “Belden Blueprint,” a tool to help organizations implement similar programs in communities impacted by addiction, without compromising on the need for a drug-free workforce.
Begun as a pilot in February 2018, 23 participants have joined the program, of which 14 have completed treatment and are employed at Belden’s Richmond, Indiana manufacturing plant in various safety-conscious and machine operating roles. The program is supported by key community partnerships including Manpower Richmond, Ivy Tech Community College, Meridian Health Services and Centerstone Indiana.
For more information about the program, visit www.belden.com/pathways-to-employment, or view the recent presentation about the Pathways to Employment program at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s The Business of Health Conference.
About Belden
Belden Inc., a global leader in high-quality, end-to-end signal transmission solutions, delivers a comprehensive product portfolio designed to meet the mission-critical network infrastructure needs of industrial and enterprise markets. With innovative solutions targeted at reliable and secure transmission of rapidly growing amounts of data, audio and video needed for today’s applications, Belden is at the center of the global transformation to a connected world. Founded in 1902, the company is headquartered in St. Louis and has almost 10,000 employees globally, and manufacturing capabilities in North and South America, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit us at www.belden.com; follow us on Twitter @BeldenInc.
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