Employment

About six years ago, serial entrepreneur Taylor Shupe founded San Clemente, Cal-based FutureStitch to make knitwear using a circular, zero-waste system.

He also plans to open a larger factory in Dallas, working with nonprofit Envision, focused on giving jobs to visually impaired individuals. That’s thanks to the state’s process, with multiple visits with parole officers, mandatory drug-testing and other requirements, making it difficult to find full-time jobs. It also maps out the skills they need to learn to enter the career path of their choice. That produces a zero-waste system that also allows him to hire less labor and operate a manufacturing plant in the U.S. That emotional connection, along with a chance to blend a for-profit with a social mission, led him to start thinking about starting a program for formerly incarcerated women at his current company. At the end of a course, like public speaking or doing a certain number of community service hours, women earn “merit badges”. According to Taylor, there around 3 million incarcerated and 20 million justice-impacted people and there’s also a high recidivism rate. They ended up buying a bus to transport the kids to and from the prison. The result for the company, he says, will be increased retention, the ability to attract better talent and higher productivity. He’s also aware of the conundrum: how to operate facilities with fewer employees, while also running a company with a social mission. They learned about a group called Lifeline Prison Ministry in Detroit, which takes children to visit their incarcerated parents. [FutureStitch](https://futurestitch.com/) to make knitwear using a circular, zero-waste system.