Nov. 14, 2024

This paid piece is sponsored by Knife River South Dakota.

Anthony Rogers thought he’d found the job to help him start rebuilding his life – until the background check came back.

“They said, ‘You can’t work here,’” said Rogers, who was staying at the Arch at the time, recently released from the Minnehaha County Jail.

Rogers is quick to acknowledge that he has made bad choices in life. Drugs went from a “fun thing” to a habit, and more than a decade of using led him to multiple convictions for drugs, theft and fighting.

By 2020, though, he was on probation, living at the Arch and ready to begin a career again.

“I’d had enough. It wasn’t fun anymore. I quit using – I quit even looking for it,” he said. “Some days were harder than others, and when I got rejected from that job, it threw me back a bit. I had thoughts of wanting to go use. But then, these guys brought me on and said if you can stay sober and stay on the right track, you can go a long way.”

Things started to change when he signed on with a temporary staffing agency and was assigned to support Knife River’s work on the new Amazon fulfillment center in northwest Sioux Falls.

“They started me there and told me I couldn’t drive or run equipment, so I did labor work,” Rogers said. “I did it every day for months until the Amazon project was done.”

Working from 3:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. some days, while living in a storage shed, “pretty much day by day, I was trying to make money and survive,” he said.

But he also was learning.

“They taught me everything,” Rogers said. “My background was labor work. If it required a shovel or hard work, I was doing it. When I came to Knife River, I didn’t have the slightest idea how to make concrete or how concrete was developed.”

Rogers was the second day laborer hired to support the Amazon job, said Ezekiel San Miguel, his supervisor.

“He’s hardworking, enthusiastic and a go-getter,” San Miguel said. “We needed someone to put fibers in at Amazon, and he did such an awesome job that at the end of the project we offered him full employment.”

And that’s when the sinking feeling returned.

“We told him we were going to hire him, and we’d have to do a background check, and he said, ‘Ugh,’” San Miguel said. “He told us how he’d been denied before. And we do have stringent requirements here, but we were able to take a chance on him, and it worked out great.”

Like a foundation supports a building, the support plus his own hard work started to build up Rogers. He moved from the storage shed to an affordable apartment.

“I’ve got a driver’s license,” he added. “I have insurance. And with an active driver’s license, I got hired.”

Knife River continued to work with him, teaching him about concrete testing and helping him to become certified by the American Concrete Institute.

It wasn’t all smooth, though.

“We had some issues with being on time and had to do some other coaching, but then he connected with Think 3D, and everything again changed for the better,” San Miguel said. “He put everything he had into work.”

Rogers participated in the Leaders of Tomorrow program, which he credits for helping him both personally and professionally. His wife was still using drugs at the time, and it connected him with coping strategies and a sober community of support.

“My probation officer had told me about it and thought it might inspire me,” he said. “I went to the first class, and it was a lot. I didn’t know if I could go back. But I kept going, and I think without that, I would have gone backward. It changed my life. They give you the tools and resources to become a better you.”

View his Leaders of Tomorrow story here. 

Back at Knife River, Rogers has kept proving himself and earning more responsibility. He’s now the primary plant operator for the location at 4001 E. Rice St. – one of the busiest in Sioux Falls.

“I open the plant. I make the concrete and make sure it goes out right on the truck, and I close the plant. They trust me to run it,” he said.

That trust has been earned, San Miguel said.

“When I finally gave him a set of keys to everything, he said nobody had ever trusted him enough to go through a door without being watched, and it was a proud moment for him,” he said.

It was a big moment, Rogers acknowledges.

“It was weird. I’ve never worked for a company that gave me keys to everything,” he said.

“With my background, I was always in trouble, so it was a sense of relief knowing someone was going to trust me. Someone was willing to give me a shot to prove myself.”

That’s likely just the start, San Miguel said.

“He’s one of our best employees, and we have big plans for him,” his supervisor said.

The story captures what Knife River believes about its team, said Clark Meyer, president of Knife River South Dakota.

“We couldn’t be more proud of Anthony and the team around him that supported him throughout his roles with us,” he said.

“We invest in all our employees. We can provide a career path for anyone willing to learn and come in with the right attitude and work ethic. We’re so glad Anthony ended up as part of our team.”

Outside of work, Rogers now puts that driver’s license to work with multiple vehicles and a motorcycle.

His wife, Kelly, just marked a year sober and finished Drug Court.

They now live in a nicer townhome, which led to another positive development.

“My probation officer wanted me to get a job and go to counseling, and as soon as I got my new place, she petitioned to let me off probation,” he said. “I didn’t have a clue she was going to do that until I told her I moved, and she checked it out and said it was great.”

His next goal –“and that’s how I survived is setting goals and trying to make it” – is homeownership, he said.

“My goal is within the next five years, I’ll be putting a down payment on a house.”

Looking back at his time with Knife River, “from the day I started, I remember them telling me we will go to bat for you as long as you’re willing to put in the work,” he said.

“And everything they’ve told me has come true. I love my job. I wouldn’t change it for the world. And if they hadn’t taken a chance on me, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”

To learn more about growing your career at Knife River, click here.