Scott Maxey Found a Second Chance at a Cincinnati Manufacturer, and Now He Runs Its Warehouse

SECOND SHIFT · FROM THE FIELD

Cincinnati, Ohio · Manufacturing and warehousing · Second-chance hiring

Original reporting: Meghan Mongillo, WKRC Local 12 · September 25, 2026

Scott Maxey is the manager of warehouse operations at Nehemiah Manufacturing in Cincinnati, where he oversees about 40 employees and millions of packages, WKRC Local 12 reports. Nearly a decade ago, he was in a very different place. “Winter of 2017, I was in very deep addiction when it came to gambling,” Maxey told the station.

Maxey said his path to Nehemiah began when his wife’s friend saw a Local 12 commercial for the company at the end of December 2017. “And when I came to Nehemiah, none of that mattered,” he said. He told the station he has been in recovery for nearly a decade, and the job became a route to advancement, not just a paycheck.

Nehemiah, founded in Cincinnati in 2009, develops and contract-manufactures consumer products, including items associated with brands such as Tide, Downy and Febreze. The company says it intentionally hires people facing significant barriers to employment, including criminal records and gaps in work history, working with Cincinnati-area social service groups on job readiness and offering what it calls “whole life coaching.”

Now Maxey tries to pass that support along. He recalled telling one employee who needed medical care but hadn’t made an appointment: “We’re not leaving this breakroom until you call the number and you schedule that appointment.” The company then made sure the employee had time to go, according to the report.

Second-chance hiring is usually measured by how many people get in the door. Maxey’s path points to a harder, more telling test: whether those hires advance into supervisory roles where they retain and develop the next cohort. For manufacturers and distribution operations competing for production and warehouse labor, pairing open hiring with ongoing support can widen the talent pool and build a management bench. The outcomes here are Maxey’s and the company’s accounts, as reported by WKRC.

Read and watch the original reporting at WKRC Local 12 →

Second Shift tells the stories of people building what’s next through new skills, new careers and second chances. From the Field items are curated from credited reporting, with Location Decision’s perspective. Location Decision Originals are independently reported by our team.

Curated by Location Decision. Originally reported by Meghan Mongillo, WKRC Local 12, September 25, 2026.

This item was sourced and drafted with AI assistance and reviewed under Location Decision’s editorial standards. Second Shift tracks workforce outcomes to inform our broader editorial analysis. All reporting belongs to the credited journalists; read the original story for the full account.