Apricity Contract Packaging, a northeast Wisconsin operation, was recently featured in an article by Wisconsin Public Radio telling the story of how the co-packer has built its entire workforce around people recovering from addiction.
The Appleton- and Milwaukee-based company employs roughly 100 workers annually in packaging and assembly, offering an environment where recovery isn't a liability to hide but a shared reality.
Apricity formed in 2018 through the merger of two addiction recovery programs, and beyond the packaging floor, it operates two residential treatment facilities, four sober living homes, and a peer support and recovery coaching program with 24/7 on-call coaches.
Leaders conduct interviews focused on recovery rather than work history, accommodate probation and drug court schedules, and provide relapse prevention support alongside on-the-job skills training.
"We offer employment in a safe environment where people aren't necessarily impacted by some of the judgment and that fear of somebody looking into their history with substance use," said Apricity President Dan Haak in the article, who himself came through the program decades ago.
Client companies receive a 5 percent tax rebate for contracting with Apricity. Forty percent of workers eventually transition to mainstream manufacturing employers, often at large facilities in the region.
For contract manufacturers looking to expand their labor pipeline or explore recovery-friendly partnerships, Apricity represents a model worth considering: one where the packaging floor doubles as a pathway back to the workforce.
