Robb Backmeyer Served on Opioid Panel

Centerstone’s Regional COO in Indiana, Robb Backmeyer, recently served as an expert in a panel discussion about innovative responses to the opioid crisis in the workplace, joined by executives from two international companies and a member of the U.S. Chamber Foundation.

The panel was part of the Sharing Solutions program, a national effort by the U.S. Chamber Foundation to educate businesses on best practices amid the national opioid addiction crisis. About 200 business and community leaders attended the program in Abingdon, Virginia, which was the first stop in a 10-city tour.

Robb, along with Paul Mottershead, Vice President of Communications for Belden, discussed the Pathways to Employment program. This innovative approach was initiated at the Richmond, Indiana Belden manufacturing facility in response to an average pre-employment drug screen failure rate of 10%. Working with Centerstone and other community agencies, Belden developed a program for personalized drug rehabilitation for applicants who failed a drug screen. Successful participation in the program would lead to employment. Launched in February of 2018, the program has received national attention from the White House, State governments, CNN, and many other news outlets.

Future Sharing Solutions events will be held in Lexington, Kentucky; Columbus, Ohio; Reading and Erie, Pennsylvania; Huntington, West Virginia; Augusta, Maine; Boston, Massachusetts; Providence, Rhode Island; and St. Paul, Minnesota.