PERRY WORKSHOP HAS NEW OPERATOR; EX-VIP MANAGER WILL RUN OPERATION FOR HANDICAPPED

PERRYVILLE -- A new operator for the sheltered workshop was approved by Perry County's Senate Bill 40 board on Friday.

Perry County Sheltered Workshop Inc. will replace VIP Industries of Cape Girardeau as a job provider for the handicapped at the beginning of July, said Pat Naeger, chairman of the Senate Bill 40 board.

The facility's day-to-day work will be run by Bill Tweedy, who managed the workshop for VIP until quitting last March. Tweedy and three other staff members had quit to protest what they called abusive work practices being encouraged by upper VIP management.

The other three who quit Lauren Mattingly, Vicki Zahner and Steve Boxdorfer also will return to the workshop, Tweedy said.

The manager said he is confident the revamped workshop will be successful since TG Missouri officials have told him they plan to continue doing business with the workshop. The Perryville automotive parts maker provides nearly $1 million in contracts to the workshop annually, say company officials.

A list of equipment needed to run the workshop was presented to the Senate Bill 40 board, he said. Bid proposals already have been received on the equipment, for which the board will provide about $40,000.

Perry County's Senate Bill 40 board oversees nearly $200,000 in taxes annually that are available to sheltered workshops and related services for the handicapped.

Nearly every bit of equipment will need to be replaced, Tweedy said, since he is anticipating VIP will leave behind an empty building.

The building is owned by Perry County.

Hillary Schmittzehe, operator of VIP, declined to comment on his company's plans for the workshop through the end of the contract. He cited a lawsuit by the former Senate Bill 40 board against the county.

Presently the workshop is operating normally and work is continuing, Schmittzehe said.

As the board has gone over old files documenting the previous board's actions, Naeger said he was startled by an invoice for $11,300 to pay insurance premiums on workshop equipment from last year. After contacting the company that provided the property liability insurance, Naeger said he learned that VIP was listed as the beneficiary.

"Why were we buying insurance for someone else's property?" Naeger said.

Although most equipment was purchased by VIP using board money, few receipts are available to prove ownership, he said.

Tweedy promised the board this would not be the case in the future.

"We have documentation for each piece of equipment we want to buy," he said. "And if the money isn't spent it goes back to the SB40 board."