Manufacturing Opportunities

February 10, 2021

By Tim Kelly (email)

DOC Communications

At the Correctional Industries’ Textile Factory, located in the Airway Heights Corrections Center in Spokane County, you will see there are professional uniforms being produced for various state agencies. All the vests for the Washington Department of Transportation are made in the textile factory along with items for King County and the State of Alaska. The work provides individuals an opportunity to grow and expand their skills and abilities, and workers enjoy having new challenges.

“It’s a different contract, different customer, different material, different patterns and different challenges for them. They’ve stated over and over again to me, they enjoy coming in and having a different challenge each day. It’s just not sitting at the same desk, in a routine. Or the same machine, or routine running the same thing over and over again,” said Business Manager William Kinn.

Along with vests and uniforms, they also have embroidery and silk screening as well as making custom gear and badges. Another part of the factory works on upholstery. The CI Textiles Factory sold over 189,000 items in 2019 and sold almost 330,000 items between 2018 and 2020. Learning a new employment skill for release helps the department in its mission to improve public safety by positively changing lives.

“It’s good to have people that have experience and have the talent but we can develop people here. As long as they’re willing to coming in and give 100 percent, they’ll gain the talent to be able to perform,” Kinn said.