Jeffco Subcontracting Inc., a sheltered workshop in Arnold that employees people with disabilities, has a new executive director.
William “Bill” Trapp took over that job on June 1, replacing Russ Kuttenkuler, who is retiring after six and a half years heading up JSI, 2065 Pomme Road.
Kuttenkuler, 63, of Kirkwood said JSI usually employs about 100 adults with developmental disabilities, who perform contracted work for companies including Schlafly, Barnhart Industries and Wizard Custom Tackle.
The employees do all kinds of production work, like assembly, packaging, collating, labeling, mailing and recycling.
JSI, which was established more than 40 years ago, also has about 10 administrative staff members, Kuttenkuler said.
Before coming to JSI, Trapp, 56, of Belleville, Ill., said he worked in finance and accounting, as well as production management. He said he also worked with another nonprofit.
Trapp said he did not know what sheltered workshops were and what they did before finding out about the opening at JSI.
“I thought it was an excellent company and an excellent business model, and it just was interesting to me,” Trapp said. “So, I went ahead and applied and luckily I got the position.”
When Kuttenkuler became executive director of JSI in 2015, he said the sheltered workshop was losing business. But that changed after he hired a full-time business development manager, Kelly Baker.
Kuttenkuler said after hiring Baker, JSI saw a substantial increase in work.
“Now, we are very busy,” he said.
Trapp said his main goal as the new executive director is to continue to grow JSI’s business and maybe hire more people. He thinks JSI can help fill the labor gap some businesses are experiencing.
He said Baker’s connections to area manufacturers and corporations in the area will help JSI expand.
“I think that JSI is (going to) have a good couple next years with the (labor) shortage,” Trapp said. “Hopefully, that’s going to help them be in a better position in the future.”
Kuttenkuler said he will stay at JSI for a few weeks to help train Trapp for his role. He said the financial aspect can be difficult because JSI has multiple sources of funding.
However, he thinks Trapp’s experience working in finance will help.
Trapp said he believes JSI has been doing so well because of the “excellent staff.”
“The communication between the staff and the employees – and I think the enjoyment of the employees doing the work – creates just a really interesting atmosphere,” Trapp said.
Kuttenkuler also highlighted the dedication of employees at JSI.
He said employees are proud of the work they do and enjoy coming into work, so much so that some don’t like taking off for holidays.
They also weren’t happy when JSI decided to shut down normal operations for roughly a month during March 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kuttenkuler said.
He said the residential facilities where many of the employees live made the decision to stop bringing people to the sheltered workshop, which makes up roughly 50 percent of JSI’s workforce.
For about one month, JSI’s 10 administrative were the only ones able to come in and work. He said 40 people had returned by the end of December 2020 and now, JSI has around 85 employees, Kuttenkuler said.
Because of the health problems some employees face, JSI required employees and staff to be vaccinated, he said.
“The fact that we had 98 percent of our folks get vaccinated and agree to it and then proceed was very cool,” he said.
During retirement, Kuttenkuler said he plans to spend more time with his grandchildren. He and his wife, Emily, have three daughters and nine grandchildren, with one more on the way.
“If it wasn’t for the fact that I have a whole bunch of fun things lined up in retirement, I would have kept working,” Kuttenkuler said.
Trapp and his wife, Laura, have two children – Rob and Luke – both college students.