COLUMBIA, S.C. (WSPA) — You may not realize it, but the road signs you drive past and the license plate you put on your car may have made in a South Carolina prison.

Broad River Correctional, a maximum-security prison in Columbia, houses 18 inmates that are responsible for producing 800,000 South Carolina license plates each year.

That’s just the beginning of the work they do.

In the Tag Plant and Sign Shop, 30 inmates are stamping metal, operating high-tech laser cutters, building road signs, making custom furniture and filling special orders for colleges and state agencies.

It’s all through a work program run by the South Carolina Department of Corrections.

“They go from station to station; one guy may be cutting stop signs today; he may be working on the same machine tomorrow or the plasma cutter. It’s all about learning and moving to different areas in the plant,” said Joel Anderson, the Deputy Director of Operations with the South Carolina Department of Corrections.

Anderson said the goal isn’t just to make products, but it’s to help build a bright future for the inmates, and South Carolina is already ahead of the curve. According to the Department of Corrections, the state has one of the lowest recidivism rates in the country.

Inmates are taught job skills through their full-time job including manufacturing, design, communication and teamwork, which can help them find employment when they are out of prison.

Kevin Shwedo, the Executive Director from the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles said the DMV depends on the work happening inside these prison walls.

“Without them, we wouldn’t have an opportunity to meet the customer demand,” he said.

Anderson said inmates are treated like employees. They have responsibilities like showing up for work early, meeting deadlines, and rotating between machines and tasks to build experience.

“What these guys do relates right back to when they get out. [They said] ‘I’m not coming back.’ Why? ‘Because I’m going to work.’ Why? Because I’ go to work every morning at 5:00 in the morning. I get off every afternoon at 3:30-4:00 in the afternoon,’ and it teaches them that the skill set that we need to teach,” Anderson said.

He added, the work these inmates do isn’t just routine, it’s essential. When South Carolina faced historic flooding several years ago, this prison shop worked around the clock to help the Department of Transportation and Highway Patrol replace hundreds of signs washed away by the storms.

“We worked in this plant 36 hours straight, just so the state would have enough signs to keep people safe,” Anderson said.

Inmates will soon begin producing a new commemorative DMV license plate marking 250 years since the American Revolution. Created in partnership with the South Carolina DMV, the plate—like all others in the state—will be manufactured by inmates.

Anderson said the program not only saves taxpayer dollars, but it also gives inmates a rare opportunity: the chance to leave prison with real job skills, and a path forward to reach a successful life afterwards.