Flour Power

The words “former gang member” tend to scare off employers.

That is why the Rev. Gregory Boyle, a Roman Catholic priest, created Homeboy Industries. By providing jobs to young men in Los Angeles who grew up amid street violence, Father Boyle hopes to give them the experience they need to find gainful employment. Homeboy Industries operates a bakery, a silk-screen company, a cleaning service, and a sales operation for mugs, T-shirts, and other items with the Homeboy Industries logo.

At the Homeboy Bakery, young men learn the art of bread making — and job skills that could make them big breadwinners in the future.

Homeboy Bakery pays its workers $7 an hour, but supervisor Cara Gould says that the training the young men receive could lead to jobs at other bakeries that pay up to $26 an hour. Men who do not choose baking careers also benefit by learning good work habits that can be applied to any job.

But Homeboy Industries has had to learn some business basics of its own along the way. Since it began in 1992, it has opened and closed several times because of financial difficulties.

To avoid repeating past problems, Homeboy Industries has streamlined its operations. Its bakery, for example, now relies on the Frisco Baking Company to handle all distribution and sales of its goods.