Towson University’s Outreach Blog

Lisa

You may not know Maryland Correctional Enterprises (MCE) by name, but chances are you encounter their products nearly every day.  From road signs, to office furniture, to the flags flying over government office buildings and schools, to the license plates on all of our vehicles, MCE products are everywhere.

Many of us at RESI-ISS (business analysts and web developers) became intimately familiar with MCE and all that they have to offer when we performed a complete redesign and upgrade of the MCE website.  Here’s a little of what we learned…

What is MCE?

As the prison industry arm of the MD Department of Public Safety & Correctional Services, MCE trains and employs offenders in a variety of business units located in the major State prisons and is an effective correctional industries model for preparing offenders for employment upon release.   MCE is currently ranked among the top 10 prison industry programs in the United States in terms of total revenues generated and total inmates employed.

Why is this a good thing?

MCE’s mission is to teach strong work ethics, increased responsibility, and self-esteem in order to create a positive personal change.  MCE’s “Learning for Life” core principles focus on performance based job skill training and educational programs.  MCE CARES Reentry program assists men and women in gaining employment and provides valuable resources as they transition back into society. Combined these two programs produce guaranteed reduced recidivism rates; which ultimately contribute to more productive citizens and safer communities.

Additionally, MCE has a positive economic impact on the Maryland economy, generating approximately $90 million for fiscal year 2008, based on salaries, wages and purchase of private sector goods and services.

What does MCE produce?

As you’ve probably guessed . . . yes, MCE manufactures license plates, but they also make a variety of items you may not have ever thought would come out of a prison. MCE produces school, office and correctional facility furniture, sheets, towels, office supplies, signs, flags, custom printed items and even food.  They also offer services including furniture restoration, data entry, mailing and distribution, and laundry.  So the children’s book “Al Capone Does My Shirts” is not far from the truth!

Who can buy from MCE?

Although we all frequently use MCE products, they cannot be purchased by the general public. The sale of products and services produced by MCE is limited to state and local government, state contractors, political subdivisions and non-profit organizations.

Why the new website?

Until recently, the MCE website was strictly informational, providing contact information to its customers who then ordered products by phone or email from a paper catalog. However, as of July 1, 2009, customers can now view the entire product line and order directly from the newly developed website. The enhancements developed by RESI-ISS are enabling MCE to improve customer service and more efficiently track and fill orders.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 1st, 2009 at 12:27 pm and is filed under Business Analysis, IT. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.