Belden Offers Treatment And Jobs to Those Wrestling with Opioid And Other Substance Abuse

Belden Inc. (NYSE: BDC), an innovator and global leader in signal transmission solutions for mission-critical applications, is also innovating when it comes to combatting America’s opioid crisis. At its Richmond, Indiana plant, the company is offering applicants that fail pre-employment drug screens a tailored rehabilitation program that puts them on the path to a job.

Under its “Pathways to Employment” initiative, Belden and local partners — Centerstone Indiana, Meridian Health Services, Ivy Tech Community College and Manpower — launched their pilot program in February 2018. Potential Belden employees who are denied a position because of a failed drug test will now be able to participate in a personalized drug rehabilitation program. A job with Belden awaits those who successfully complete their course of treatment and commit to maintaining a life free of substance abuse.

The program is designed to address two major problems currently facing the nation: substance abuse, which is highlighted by the current opioid crisis, and the shortage of workers available to many companies in critical American industries. Belden believes programs such as Pathways to Employment, when delivered effectively, can be a win for both employees and employers.

Government and public organizations continue to rise to the challenge of combatting the opioid epidemic, which affects all areas of today’s society, but many believe it’s also time for the business community to try to get more involved.

The initiative is being applauded by state and federal officials. In fact, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams cited Belden at the Chamber of Commerce conference on the opioid crisis held in Washington on March 1, 2018. Sitting alongside the heads of the Food and Drug Administration and Center for Disease Control, Dr. Adams cited Pathways to Employment as “an example of ways the business community can lean into this if you see this as a part of your mission.”

“The opioid crisis is one of the most daunting and demoralizing challenges facing American families. Corporate Citizenship is an important part of Belden’s culture and we appreciate the experts in Richmond who have helped us craft a mechanism to support our neighbors there. We still have a lot to learn but hope this initiative will result in a model that other companies can follow,” commented Belden’s CEO, John Stroup. “There are currently five people at various stages of the pilot program. Progress to date has been positive and promising and we look forward to the day we can expand the program to other Belden sites.”

The Pathways to Employment program was originally conceived in conjunction with Dr. Mitchell S. Rosenthal, who was the founder of Phoenix House, the national non-profit drug treatment organization, and is the president of The Rosenthal Center for Addiction Studies in New York City.

“This is both a major new approach to drug treatment and it is an innovative way to address the workforce shortage issue,” Dr. Rosenthal said. “Many companies need more workers and many promising workers need help leading drug-free lives. Employers and employees will find this is a real win-win solution.”

For more information, visit www.belden.com/pathways-to-employment.

About Belden
Belden Inc., a global leader in high-quality, end-to-end signal transmission solutions, delivers a comprehensive product portfolio designed to meet the mission-critical network infrastructure needs of industrial, enterprise and broadcast markets. With innovative solutions targeted at reliable and secure transmission of rapidly growing amounts of data, audio and video needed for today’s applications, Belden is at the center of the global transformation to a connected world. Founded in 1902, the company is headquartered in St. Louis and has almost 10,000 employees globally, and manufacturing capabilities in North and South America, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit us at www.belden.com; follow us on Twitter @BeldenInc.

Belden, Belden Sending All The Right Signals, and the Belden logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Belden Inc. or its affiliated companies in the United States and other jurisdictions. Belden and other parties may also have trademark rights in other terms used herein.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180502005196/en/

Belden Inc.
Richmond & Indiana area:
Melissa Knapp, 937-336-5258
Media Relations
[email protected]
or
St. Louis & National area:
Ellen Drazen, 314-309-6010
Media Relations
[email protected]