By David Hood, Induron President
Willie Brown retired from Induron Coatings at the end of 2013. He was number two on our “seniority list” behind only yours truly. He was 20 years old when he started work here in 1972. He was a second generation employee, as are several of us (four to be exact). His dad, John, worked here until his untimely death in about 1975.
We had a party in our new warehouse to celebrate his more than 41 years of service. It was attended by all of our employees except one who was with a customer. It was also attended by a number of retired Induron employees, including Roosevelt Evans who has been retired for more than 21 years. There were a number of spouses in attendance as well.
I believe this kind of “family-like” engagement in our company says a lot about the people here who create, manufacture and deliver reliable and innovative products to customers who buy based on the reliable recommendations of our professional sales force.
These people don’t work for “the boss.” They work for our customers, and because they find productive work rewarding in and of itself. Of course, they work for the money too, but the retirees who came to celebrate were not paid. They came because they wanted to. All of our production people came on their own time as we work four days a week and the celebration was on Friday, which is their off day. Induron Coatings means something to them far beyond pay day. It is a meaningful and important part of their life.
I am at the top of the seniority list having been an employee since June of 1969. This has been a good place to work since the company was founded in 1947, but it is an even better place today. It isn’t a good place because we are somehow “special.” It is a good place because we are all reliable and treat others with respect and, yes, love. We are an innovative group of people with the integrity to be honest in our dealings both internally and externally.
Willie is proud of his company, those retirees are proud of their company, and so am I.
Thank you for your many years of faithful service, Willie! We will all miss seeing you every day!
Founded in 1947, Induron manufactures high performance coatings that serve a range of industrial applications, including the wastewater, transmission and distribution and groundwater storage industries.