History & Mission
Lafayette Industries is a sheltered workshop, founded in 1976 by a caring group of parents seeking employment for their grown children with developmental disabilities who had finished the Special School District curriculum. This resourceful group opened a one-room facility in Valley Park with 16 employees doing hand-assembly and packaging for area businesses. Since jobs were so scarce for this population and the demand was so great, the operation grew quickly.
Lafayette Industries now holds a solid position in the St. Louis packaging industry. We operate two facilities, one in Manchester and another in Berkeley, Missouri.
Our mission is to provide meaningful, productive and long-lasting careers in the packaging industry to adults with developmental disabilities.
- Instill a sense of pride through workmanship in each employee by discovering their unique
individual abilities and applying those abilities to our packaging operation - Continue to nurture and expand upon each employee's abilities through daily guidance and
supervision - Provide new challenges to keep each employee working at their full potential
- Provide fair wages and good benefits
- Provide a support system for employees and their families
- Provide opportunities for each employee to interact socially in the workplace as well as outside
of the workplace, through organized parties, sports outings, picnics, etc. - Provide high-quality products & services to our packaging clients
- Ensure the safety of all of our employees while performing their jobs
- Be fiscally responsible in our packaging operation to ensure employment for future generations
of individuals with developmental disabilities
