CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — Before the Snow Warriors hit the road to lay salt or plow snow , a unique operation works to clear a path focused on public safety and purpose.

Since 1968, Ohio Penal Industries (OPI) and the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) have partnered to produce the trucks that keep Ohio’s roads safer. Inside the Chillicothe Correctional Institution, 175 men are part of the program that builds every ODOT plow and salt truck seen on the roads.

“This isn’t a prison,” said Frankie Foster, an incarcerated OPI worker. “This is a job site.”

The work that happens within their job site contributes to clearing snow and salting roads in every corner of Ohio.

“They come in as nothing but a cab and a rolling chassis,” Foster said. “Everything that goes on – we assemble, 100% of i

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