November 11th, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Ken Carroll
(502) 352-2485 - Office
Raytheon, Atkins & Pearce, Simpak and Wayne Allen Win Manufacturers, Employee of the Year Awards
Frankfort, KY - November 12, 2009 Raytheon of Louisville, Atkins and Pearce of Covington, Simpak of Louisville have each won 2009 Kentucky "Manufacturer of the Year" awards and Wayne Allen of Shelbyville has won the 2009 "Kentucky Manufacturing Employee of the Year" award, according to Pete Gritton, interim president and CEO of the Kentucky Association of Manufacturers (KAM). The awards were presented recently at KAM's annual awards luncheon and annual meeting in Louisville.
Raytheon won in the "large business" category; Atkins and Pearce won in the "mid-size business" category; and Simpak won in the "small business" category. Each was selected based on the following criteria:
Employee of the Year nominees were judged based on four criteria:
The independent 2009 awards selection committee consisted of Rich Cleary (Committee Chair), Member in Charge - Greenebaum Doll & McDonald, Louisville, Daryl Love, Community Relations Manager - Ashland Inc., Lexington, Becky Naugle, Director - Kentucky Small Business Center, Lexington, Frank Salisbury, Director of Advancement - Ashland Community & Technical College, Ashland, Gary Stewart, Partner - Crowe Horwath, Louisville and Charlie Martin, Director of the Field Services Group of USEC, Inc., Paducah.
Charlie Martin explained, "This was my first time on the awards selection committee and I was very impressed with the quality of all the entries. All were very strong, which made it challenging to select a winner from among the nominees."
We congratulate all of the winners of the 2009 Manufacturers and Employee of the year awards and appreciate all who participated!
There are many companies that embody the spirit and values that we look for when giving out the Manufacturer of the Year Awards. But this year's recipient in the Large Company Division stands out in many ways.
Raytheon-Louisville is home to 400 highly skilled technical, engineering and support staff. This facility has been serving the military community since World War II. As the world's leading missile defense organization, Raytheon-Louisville is projected to double in size by 2014 due to overhauls and upgrades they provide to U.S. and allied navies. Raytheon strongly believes in supporting regional small business, setting goals to outsource service and manufacturing contracts to veteran, minority and small business throughout Kentucky and Indiana. Recognized with numerous other awards, Raytheon is a leader in environmental health and safety. Instilling the concept that every employee is responsible for safety, all employees receive regular training. Receiving numerous EHS awards, they have brought their employee injury rate to .54, which puts them in the World class facility range.
Success has been driven by a qualified, trained and empowered workforce. Realizing a 135 percent increase in sales, 230 percent increase in bookings and 100 percent on-time system delivery rate literally defines Raytheon's success.
Raytheon also believes strongly in community involvement, allowing employees to volunteer at several community and statewide programs including but not limited to: Big Brother Big Sister, homeless shelters, DADS school program, FEMA, Green Mile project, Habitat for Humanity, Salvation Army Angel Tree, DARE, the Leukemia Society, United Way and more. Employees also play a key role in the lives of disadvantaged children in the area by participating in programs at local area Title I schools with culturally diverse student populations.
Raytheon-Louisville's entrepreneurial spirit, innovative production processes and their contribution to improving the quality for the lives of their employees and those in the community makes them the perfect candidate for the 2009 Kentucky Manufacturer of the Year Award in the Large Business Division.
Atkins and Pearce, a dynamic company located in Covington, Kentucky. Proud of their heritage and world class employees, Atkins and Pearce is a world leader in textile braiding and other fiber processes, striving for excellence through innovation and customer intimacy. Committed to Safety and product quality, Atkins and Pearce have positioned themselves for the future with leading positions in electrical sleeving markets, technical advancements in textile coatings and an unmatched processing capacity and technology for high performance fibers.
As a world leader in textile braiding and other important types of fiber processing, Atkins and Pearce produces products for a wide array of industries including Fishline, candle wicking, electrical sleevings, threads, cables, hoses, cords, medical and military applications, agricultural, mining and drilling applications, automotive, alternative energy and power generation applications, aerospace, water filtration, firefighter protection and functional coatings.
Atkins and Pearce considers themselves a community of associates. They value loyalty and trust and aspire to build something that will last beyond them. Above all, they believe that their hard work, persistence in values and their commitment to on another will be rewarded with success.
Nearly 100% of their employee's attended an on-site health fair to learn about their new health and wellness program that has included on site Mammography screenings and nearly 55% of employees voluntarily participated in their first overall health screening this August.
Atkins and Pearce actively participate in an annual United Way Drive, resulting in contributions averaging around $40.000. A&P was recognized by the United Way as a top 25 Pacesetter for their 2009 campaign. They also participate in other programs including Prokids, Fine Arts Fund, Kentucky Special Olympics, Senior Services of Northern Kentucky, Association for Retarded Citizens, Brighton Center and other individual fund raisers for employees in time of need.
Atkins and Pearce are committed to its people. During these hard economic times, A&P has experienced a decline in sales, and has become overstaffed by 60 employees, yet not one of those jobs has been eliminated. The commitment of the president to his A&P family and maintaining their "Best People" has been overwhelmingly evident in the retention of all employees during these toughest of economic times.
Setting an unbelievably high bar for commitment to employees and great people focused culture as well as innovative technological advancements in the textile industry, we congratulate Atkins and Pearce on being selected the 2009 Kentucky Manufacturer of the Year Award for a Mid-sized company.
Simpak International is a company that manufactures and markets a patented protective packaging pad for the growing 3.2 billion dollar US protective packaging industry. The company's core product, the "Simpad" has been called the most innovative new packaging product in 25 years. The design allows for the Simpads to wrap around and protect products of various sizes within a box. In many cases, Simpads have lowered the total cost of packaging 25 percent and more, making them quite compelling to cost-conscious firms, even in a down-market.
Now in development of a "green" version of the Simpad, as well as other innovations, Simpak experienced a 400 percent sales increase in 2008. Innovations include additional patent filings, design of specialized proprietary manufacturing equipment and new applications of packaging materials. Simpak is also one of the only institutional venture capital backed manufacturing companies in the Commonwealth.
Simpak's founders and active investors are highly active in the community. Working with organizations including, YPO, Mayors Liaison for entrepreneurship, numerous civic and charitable boards, United Way, The Desert Museum, Louisville Science Center, UofL Entrepreneurial Council and many others.
Simpak has been a vocal advocate for greener protective packaging and has positioned itself to become one of the first fully green products of its type. Innovation today continues with additional patent filings, design of specialized proprietary manufacturing equipment, and new applications (kits, cold packs, electronic packs, etc.) Congratulations to Simpak. Their pioneering spirit, commitment to continuous improvement of products/processes and ongoing community involvement have earned them recognition as the 2009 Kentucky Manufacturer of Year Award in the Small Company Division.
Read the dossier of Wayne Allen and you'll understand why Shelby Industries has experienced such an explosion of growth! Wayne is an accomplished manufacturing professional, serving as Vice President since January of 2008. His areas of expertise include lean manufacturing, staff development, strategic planning, cost management, quality systems and market development. Wayne has led the re-invention of Shelby Industries. His bold suggestions have been instrumental to the company's expansion into new markets. Wayne has increased profitability and reduced expenses. He has stressed innovation by identifying new products and services that Shelby Industries is now offering. Wayne also successfully led Shelby industries to earn all 3 ISO certifications simultaneously, the first company in their industry to earn this status! Wayne was the catalyst for leading this endeavor, designing new quality systems and metrics and helping the Shelby Industries team accomplish a significant objective.
Wayne models servant leadership. There is no job he would ask another to get done without being prepared to do it himself. Not only is Wayne a patient teacher, but also an encouraging coach. As Wayne changed processes, he worked alongside team members to teach new skills and build confidence.
Wayne also serves the community in which he lives and works. He has revived the industrial association in Shelbyville, serves as a Board Member at The Portland Center, is a Steering Committee Member at the Shelby County Industrial Foundation and is active at his local church.
Initiating positive steps to make the culture at Shelby Industries more professional and involve all in the workings of the business, Wayne also leads a daily devotion each morning. He conducts routine small group meetings with every employee to seek their input and ideas to changes occurring at Shelby Industries. This approach has served to significantly communicate care and basic concern for employees at all levels at Shelby Industries, creating an atmosphere of mutual respect and boosts in morale.
Wayne Allen tackles every new endeavor with a strong spirit of innovation and brings creativity and vigor to every project that he leads. KAM congratulates Wayne Allen, winner of the 2009 Kentucky Manufacturing Employee of the Year Award.
Established in 1911, the Kentucky Association of Manufacturers is the Commonwealth's only manufacturing trade association. KAM's mission is to raise the prosperity of all Kentuckians by protecting and growing our state's economic engine: manufacturing. KAM proactively works with elected officials, policymakers, chambers of commerce, other associations, economic development experts, the news media, the general public and its own members to drive results through eight branded initiatives: ProsperousKentuckysm, ProductiveKentuckysm, FreedomKentuckysm, SmartKentuckysm, HealthyKentuckysm, HonestKentuckysm, MarketKentuckysm and CleanKentuckysm. On the web at www.KAManufacturers.com