A local business is cleaning up the state’s highways while giving second chances

INDIANAPOLIS — It all started six years ago when Mathew Murray and three of his friends noticed how littered Indiana highways were. They got to work and started cleaning the highways themselves.

They got some organizations to help them out, but then the Indiana Department of Transportation heard about their work and secured funding to pay for the highway to get cleaned up.

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They asked Murray and his friends if they wanted some of the contracts, so they got to work hiring people. They went from four employees to 80 in 30 days.

However, they noticed a trend. They were mostly hiring people of certain backgrounds, so they changed their mission.

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"We realized about 70% of the people we hired had come out of situations of being formerly homeless, out of drug abuse programs, out of the criminal justice system,” Murray said. “We realized we were keeping about 90% out."

Salvader Delapaz is one of the company’s employees. He was in and out of prison much of his young life. He also battled heroin addiction.

Now at 65, he feels he finally got a second chance.

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“It's a good job,” Delapaz said. “It puts food on the table, and it keeps me out of trouble. I get up every morning and come to work. I know what I've got to do."

The company was founded in Indiana but it has since expanded. They currently operate in Ohio, Missouri, Kansas and Oregon.

Ohio was the first state they expanded to after Gov. Eric Holcomb told the Ohio governor about their program.

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"We have about 200 employees on the road every day, but we have 100% turnover," Murray said. “We have probably had 600 people work for us in the last year and just constant turn over, getting them to go on to better, life-fulfilling jobs."

The company pays its employees anywhere from $16 to $18 an hour plus health insurance and a 401k.

But there is more: job training is available to land higher paying jobs.

"We just started working with Ivy Tech where we are going to get them CDL licenses,” Murray said. “We had 25 employees in Indianapolis show up on day one."

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Murray says the company has saved the state $30 million in six years by keeping people out of jail and out of social service programs. 90% of workers stay on track and don’t go back to the situation they were previously in.

"I was given second chances all the time in my life and we just feel that's the way you should be when you are hiring people,” Murray said.

For people in the program, they say it is vital to a brighter future.

"It gave me an opportunity to keep going,” Delapaz said. “I am older now, I think different, I am clean."

This second chance program is something the company hopes to grow.

Interstate Business Solutions is working on expanding into Iowa, Virginia and Louisiana.

If you are looking for work, call 317-682-9997 or visit their website.