Best Places to Work: TRG builds success with customer satisfaction, employee engagement

The Rubber Group has 120 employees working at its four locations across the U.S., including its headquarters in Rochester, N.H. The manufacturer produces custom and standard molded rubber products, using its collective engineering and material science experience to find solutions to its customers' biggest manufacturing challenges.

Over the years, TRG has developed a specialty in serving such industries as industrial, health care and medical devices, transportation, consumer products and others. Working with customers of all sizes, from Fortune 500 firms to small, privately owned start-ups, TRG is ISO 9001:2015 certified, ITAR-compliant, CCR-registered and committed to ongoing investing to achieve lean marketing principles.

TRG acquired bearing seals and molded rubber component manufacturer Cooper Products Inc. in late 2023. This deal also adds to TRG's expertise in such industry needs as metal stamping, insert prep and overmolding. The firm followed that up earlier this year with a pair of acquisitions designed to boost it in the aerospace and electrical power transmission spaces: Silicone Rubber Right Products L.L.C. and Team Products River Investments L.P, both of Illinois.

Here's more of what Pruyn had to say about TRG being among Rubber News' Best Places to Work.

"Our origins as a distributor instilled in us an exceptional customer-centric focus. This commitment to always saying yes to our customers has honed our ability to deliver complex products for demanding applications while diversifying our manufacturing capabilities. We have developed robust materials science, engineering support, quality systems and validation capabilities to ensure that the products we supply are reliable in applications where failure is not an option."

"Our guiding principle is to treat others the way we want to be treated. We apply this principle to all our relationships, including customers, suppliers and team members. It starts with competitive compensation, including profit sharing, bonuses, vacation and excellent benefits. This is reinforced by treating everyone with dignity and respect. Finally, we ensure that everyone understands our objectives, has the tools to achieve them and is held accountable for their actions. We embrace the metaphor of 'rowing in the same direction.' "

"We are dedicated to being the best, but work hard to keep it light. The group is very close. We have company outings, potluck events and more. I honestly believe our culture of having fun and being the best is the key to establishing that enjoyable work environment."

"We provide mostly custom products while offering the flexibility of shorter runs, shorter leads and personalized service. We literally do whatever the customer needs. Ultimately, we exist to best serve the needs of those customers. Through that service we create value for our shareholders and find ways to sustain our team members."

"We have some lofty growth goals. We expect about 78 percent growth in 2024 followed by 100 percent growth in 2025. Most of that comes from the aerospace, infrastructure and medical device markets. But growth is only part of our success. Ultimately we achieve success when we have happy customers, happy team members, happy suppliers and happy shareholders."