Garment & Sewing

The garment program was established in the late 1980s to provide clothing to Oregon's prison population as well as provide job skills to the adults in custody that participate in the program. Today, OCE not only clothes over 14,000 adults in custody, but also manufactures the Prison Blues® workwear clothing line.

The staff and AICs in the OCE operations pride themselves in their ability to create products suited for institutions and corrections professionals, as well as the private sector. Custom projects are used to help participants develop problem solving and team work skills. These skills are essential in the job market and help contribute to reentry success.

Embroidery & Screen Printing

The embroidery program provides custom embroidered emblems, clothing, hats, and bags. Individuals working in these programs learn manufacturing skills, multi-tasking, teamwork, communication skills, and how to program and operate digital equipment used in the industry.

OCE embroiders products for government agencies, such as Oregon State Parks and Recreation (volunteer vests and staff uniforms), and DOC (staff uniforms). In addition, OCE works with several non-profit organizations, such as the world-famous Pendleton Round Up, to fulfill their needs. With an in-house training program, AICs learn up-to-date techniques in embroidery and digitizing design. If you've ever purchased a Prison Blues t-shirt, you've seen the results of our quality screen printing program. OCE also applies screen printing to detention uniforms and various other products.

Metal Fabrication

Adults in custody assigned to these programs are trained in a variety of metal fabrication techniques on different types of metals. Fabrication procedures regularly performed include design, grinding, welding, cutting, forming, and finishing of metal products. We manufacture a variety of high-quality metal products at a competitive cost for multiple state and municipal agencies. These products include bus shelters; furnishings for state parks, prisons, hospitals, and colleges; and heavy equipment such as road sanders.

As part of the program, OCE offers trailer refurbishing. This allows AICs to learn additional techniques of repair and replacement in sometimes challenging situations. The training provided in this trailer refurbishing program includes fabrication, welding, painting, electrical wiring and hydraulics. Besides saving state agencies money, this program emphasizes the reduction of materials sent to landfills and recycling centers by utilizing falloff to extend the life of existing products.

Signage

In partnership with the Oregon Department of Transportation, the signage program's primary focus is quality. Work teams include highly skilled artists and signage professionals trained in design, layout, and manufacturing. This program provides the opportunity for workers to acquire training and practical experience in computer-aided drafting and design software, sign preparation, and lay-up of high density overlay and aluminum substrate signs. Additionally, some workers will learn to operate CNC router, rotary and laser engraving equipment. Individuals receiving on-the-job training in this program gain knowledge of industry sign design standards.

Upholstery

The Upholstery Shop works in conjunction with wood manufacturing to create our furniture line. AICs learn how to shape foam for comfort and aesthetics, and lay out and sew fabric patterns to cover the products. They build skills for inventory and assembly of frame parts and follow industry standard blueprints and instructions. Program participants also learn the art of making mattresses for dormitory and detention settings, as well as for cabins and yurts found in state and local parks. From meticulous quality control measures to the final shipping techniques, OCE workers develop necessary skills for real-world upholstery work.

Wood

In OCE wood programs, AICs learn to build and deliver quality products to exceed customer needs. They learn skills with both state-of-the-art equipment and manual processes, acquiring the different techniques needed to work with different materials. Skills learned include milling, sanding, assembling, shipping, inventorying, ordering, and more.

Working in a production line, each AIC is taught to check the quality of the work from the previous station. This bolsters the idea of teamwork and enhances soft skills, such as communication, necessary to be successful when re-entering the job market. It also teaches the wood working process from start to finish, expanding their knowledge of the trade and understanding of each stage.