CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio—Rubber & Plastics News, in conjunction with Best Companies Group, sought to find the best places to work in the rubber industry. Mission accomplished.
Eight firms have been named a rubber industry Best Place to Work, and the top company will be announced in the Nov. 18 issue of RPN.
The 2019 Best Places to Work, in alphabetical order, are:
- H.B. Chemical Corp. of Twinsburg, Ohio, a North American chemicals distributor for the rubber industry;
- R.D. Abbott Co. Inc. of Cerritos, Calif., a full-service distributor to the rubber industry;
- Reed Rubber Products of St. Louis, a manufacturer of extruded thermoplastic rubber seals and gaskets;
- R.L. Hudson & Co. of Broken Arrow, Okla., which makes custom rubber parts and molded plastic components;
- The Rubber Group of Rochester, N.H., a producer of custom molded rubber products like rollers and drive wheels;
- Stockwell Elastomerics Inc. of Philadelphia, which produces silicone molded rubber parts;
- Sur-Seal L.L.C. of Cincinnati makes custom sealing solutions for various industries; and
- Zeon Chemicals L.P. of Louisville, Ky., which produces synthetic elastomers.
For the scope of this project, the rubber industry was defined in two ways. First, eligible companies had to derive at least 50 percent of its revenue from elastomer-related operations, which include natural and synthetic rubber, thermoplastic elastomers, polyurethanes and silicone.
Second, companies had to either make end rubber products or be a supplier/provider of services to the rubber industry.
In addition to operating within the defined scope of the rubber industry, eligible 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 top 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.