Commissioners approve higher‑end garment printer after county cost analysis; jail industries pay and operations discussed

Strafford County commissioners agreed to move forward with a higher‑end direct‑to‑garment (DTG) printer after staff presented an eight‑year cost analysis showing lower per‑garment operating costs compared with a cheaper ink‑cartridge machine.

Gwen, staff member, explained the tradeoff between machines that use replaceable ink cartridges and bulk‑ink or tank systems. Staff said the bulk/tank system has a higher initial price but significantly lower ink cost per garment; when modeled with a moderate increase in production, the higher‑end system reached break‑even at roughly eight years.

Staff described other operational benefits: the higher‑end DTG machine is more rugged, produces less waste and supports small runs without setup fees, which would let county departments and community groups order one‑off shirts without a costly setup. Commissioners said the better machine would also provide more attractive products for county marketing and could reduce the county’s need to contract some print work externally.

Commissioners acknowledged concerns about not competing with local private businesses; staff said the county’s primary use is internal printing for county programs and that the county would be careful about advertising outside services. The board asked staff to continue negotiating on price; one commissioner said they were “good with it” and staff said they would try to lower the vendor price before finalizing purchase arrangements.

The meeting also included an extended discussion of jail industries and inmate compensation. Staff said in‑house jobs pay between $1.50 and $3.00 per hour depending on the task, while some contracted work subject to prevailing wages (for example, certain soldering or food‑packing categories) must match NAC or prevailing wage rules. Staff said typical savings on release vary widely, with some inmates leaving the facility with roughly $1,000 to $3,000 in savings, although that is not the norm.

Staff described how industries work to preserve access to rehabilitation programming while allowing inmate participation, and said some federal inmates who stay at the county while awaiting trial can accrue substantially higher savings because of long pretrial periods and continuous work in jail industries. Commissioners asked staff to confirm cost and pricing details to minimize any unintended market impacts and to return with final vendor pricing and a proposed purchase timeline.