CONNEAUT —  A good group of experienced employees is helping Lake Erie Correctional Institution make the transition from state prison to private business, Warden Barry Goodrich said Friday.

Goodrich, who sat down to discuss the prison and its tenure under owner Corrections Corporation of America, said the staff who stuck with CCA when the facility changed hands has been a huge asset.

“I’m really impressed with the people,” Goodrich said. “Ninety-five percent of the staff stayed, and they are really good, hard-working, smart people.”

CCA, based in Nashville, formally acquired LaECI on New Year’s Eve, although the switch from a state-owned, privately-managed prison began many weeks before. More work remains, but so far the Goodrich is pleased at the progress.

“(Officials) have said this is the most positive transition they’ve seen,” he said. “I believe we’re ahead of schedule. But our work is just beginning.”

CCA paid $72.7 million for the minimum/medium security prison. In return, the state will pay the company a daily rate for each inmate it houses as well as an annual $3.8 million ownership fee.

Presently, about 280 people work at LaECI, Goodrich said, a few more than when Management and Training Corporation operated the facility. MTC operated the prison since its debut in April 2000. More workers could be added when more inmates begin arriving. At the time of the sale announcement, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction said 304 beds will be added at LaECI to ease overcrowding at state prisons. At full capacity, the prison will hold nearly 1,800 inmates.

It is not known when the extra inmates will show up, Goodrich said. CCA will send experts to determine the best way to house the extra people.

“When we get close to that time, we’ll examine all the options,” he said.

Insiders have learned much of the prison operation will stay intact, Goodrich said. Titles may change, but the general command structure and job responsibilities begun with MTC days will remain, he said.

CCA also plans to keep most of the vocational and social programs for inmates.

“There’s one or two of them we’re deciding what to do,” Goodrich said. “But nearly every program we’re carrying over.”

Many of the partnerships the prison struck with area schools and agencies will survive, Goodrich said.

“We don’t want to make a whole bunch of changes right away,” he said. “We want it to be gradual. Some of the things MTC did well we’ll carry over.”

CCA will also work hard to maintain the good relationship the prison enjoys with the city, Goodrich said. Employees will join organizations and clubs and become very active in civic affairs.

“We will maintain contact with the community,” he said. “We want to be a good neighbor. We don’t want the prison to become an issue.”

The prison also plans to continue the popular work crew program, which sends a handful of carefully screened inmates into town to perform various service projects, such as mowing and painting projects. “We’re reviewing files now to start getting a detail together,” Goodrich said.

Inmates and staff have had plenty of questions about the new regime. To ease anxiety, Goodrich said he makes it a point to talk with employees and prisoners during his regular walks through the compound.

“Communication is very important,” he said.

Goodrich, who turns 50 next month, has spent more than 20 years with CCA. Goodrich joined the company immediately after leaving the Army, which in turn followed a college career. His work for CCA has taken him to several states, most recently Georgia, where he spent five years as warden of CCA’s Coffee Correctional Facility.

Goodrich is no stranger to northeast Ohio or prison startups. He was instrumental in launching the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center in Youngstown, CCA’s other Ohio facility. The prison, which opened in 1997, houses federal prisoners.

Goodrich said the Conneaut assignment held personal, as well as professional, appeal. Goodrich and his wife, the parents of two adult children, are now located within easy driving distance to relatives in Pennsylvania and Michigan, his home state.

His Upper Peninsula upbringing, plus CCA duty in Minnesota and Colorado, will help him make another transition — from the Old South’s steamy climate to Conneaut’s lake effect snowstorms.

“I like it,” Goodrich said, smiling. “It’s a nice change from Georgia’s weather.”