Valley Industries Gets an Early Christmas Gift from Ameren Missouri

Christmas came early for as St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley joined other local political figures and members of the communty as officials of both Ameren Missouri and Valley Industries Sheltered Workshop performed a Transfer of Land Deed ceremony.

Ameren Missouri donated a approximately 22,000 square-feet of land to Valley Industries. The land is directly southeast of the workshop’s with an estimated property value of $60,000, according to Ameren.

“We’re in the business of providing dignified, meaningful employment for nearly 200 adults with developmental disabilities; and, this includes making it safe for our workers to arrive and leave our facility,” said Hank Bruemmer, Valley Industries Board of Directors president. “Most of the people who work for us
can’t drive, so they depend on various forms of transportation."

This parcel of donated land will be used to improve traffic flow and safety for Valley Industries’ workers by adding a second entrance onto McDonnell Boulevard. Currently, there is only one entrance that handles a high volume of traffic every morning and afternoon when five Metro buses, nine Oats Vans, seven Call-A-Ride vehicles, as well as more than 30 private automobiles transport workers to and from the facility, Bruemmer said.

The second entrance will allow the workshop to direct the traffic around the front of the building in order to make the parking lot safer for workers. Also, it will create an accessible driveway for large trucks to deliver production supplies and pick up finished products at the loading docks behind the building.

"The second entrance will make our parking lot safer by improving the flow of traffic and making things less chaotic," Bruemmer said.

The workshop specializes in kit building, collation, assembly and disassembly, packaging, shrink-wrapping, blister packaging, mailing and UPS/FedEx shipping, cleaning, and commercial laundry.

It was the first sheltered workshop in the St. Louis area to achieve ISO 9001:2008 certification through BSI America, Inc. This international standard of quality excellence is recognized in 143 countries.

“Our workers are very good at what they do," said Valley Industries executive director Jim Guyre. "No job is too big or too small.

"They really enjoy coming to work every day and being productive citizens of this
community.”

St. Louis County executive Charlie A. Dooley emphasized the important role Valley Industries plays in providing value to the North County region.

“When you give someone a job, you bring value to that person’s life," he said. "What they’re doing here at Valley Industries is extremely important and speaks to every individual in our community."

“Everybody has value and the right to be given an opportunity to work toward their full potential.

Dooley also commended Ameren Missouri for being an active corporate citizen in the St. Louis region.

“We always talk about the St. Louis metropolitan area being a great community," he said. "The reason for this is because we have some great corporate sponsors who have stepped up to the plate each and every time.

"We can always depend on Ameren being somewhere and bringing value to
our local neighborhoods.”