Malvern-based Baker Industries is one of the rare employers that provides job opportunities to groups of people often overlooked by companies that are hiring: parolees, homeless people, disabled adults, and those in recovery from addiction, writes Erin Arvedlund for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Baker Industries is a nonprofit where employees perform light industrial work, including packaging, assembling, kitting, shrink-wrapping, and mailing for more than 80 companies in the Philadelphia area. The work is done at the company’s two factories, in Malvern and in Kensington.

Before the coronavirus hit, the company employed around 100 people, but that number fell to around 55 after the outbreak.

“Many of our employees couldn’t come back because of fears of the virus, or they lacked child care, or because of the generosity of unemployment benefits,” said Dan Porter, Baker’s sales and marketing manager.

Now, Baker is looking to hire more people. The nonprofit’s goals remain unchanged: to train its workers in its entry-level jobs long enough for them to be able to move on to higher-paying jobs, whether at Baker or other companies.

Read more about Baker Industries in The Philadelphia Inquirer here.