Seven firms earn 'Best Places to Work' honor

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio—Rubber News has identified seven firms that have qualified to be named among the rubber industry Best Places to Work.

RN has completed its third annual program in conjunction with Best Companies Group, which independently determined the rubber-related companies that qualified under its criteria.

The seven firms that have been named as Best Places to Work will be profiled in an issue to be published in January, and the company with the highest overall score will be named the top workplace in the industry.

The 2021 Rubber News Best Places to Work, in alphabetical order, are:

• Amtraco, a holding company based in Franksville, Wis., that operates EPSI, a distribution company servicing the surface finishing industry, and STM, a manufacturer of pressure sensitive adhesives tapes.
• HB Chemical of Twinsburg, Ohio, a North American chemicals distributor for the rubber industry;
• Specification Rubber Products Inc. of Alabaster, Ala., a producer of non-tire rubber products;
• R.D. Abbott Co. Inc. of Cerritos, Calif., a full service distributor of materials, equipment and services to the rubber industry;
• Reed Rubber Products Inc. of St. Louis, a manufacturer of extruded thermoplastic rubber seals and gaskets;
• Zeon Chemicals L.P., Louisville, Ky., which produces synthetic elastomers; and
• Zochem L.L.C. of Dickson, Tenn., a manufacturer of zinc oxide that also has an operation in Canada.

HB Chemical and Reed Rubber are the only two firms to have earned the distinction each of the three years of the program. Specification Rubber and Zochem also were named Best Places to Work in 2020, while R.D. Abbott and Zeon were honored in the 2019 class.

For the scope of this project, eligible companies had to derive at least 50 percent of their revenue from elastomer-related operations. Companies also had to be a publicly or privately held business; have a facility in the U.S. and/or Canada; have a minimum of 15 employees working in the U.S. and/or Canada; and be in business a minimum of one year.

Determining the Best Places to Work was a two-step process. The first involved an evaluation of participating companies' workplace policies, practices and demographics. The second included an employee survey to directly assess the experiences and attitudes of individual employees with respect to their workplace. The combined scores determined the qualified organizations and the final ranking.

Best Companies Group managed the overall registration and survey process. It also analyzed the data and used its experience to determine the final ranking.