In a job market in which qualified employees are hard to come by, ELBEX Corp. is attracting and keeping an increasing number of full-time workers by offering good old-fashioned benefits.
“It’s very hard to get people and very hard to keep them,” says ELBEX Corp. President Edward L. Bittle. “It’s a daily struggle.”
To help ease the struggle, which is faced by many area employers, and to ensure it continues to attract quality workers, the manufacturer of custom extruded rubber products offers benefits including two pension plans, life insurance, medical insurance, a profit sharing plan, paid holidays and paid vacations. Although many companies offer similar benefits, ELBEX is unusual in that the benefits cost the employees nothing — the company picks up 100 percent of the tab.
“We’re doing everything we can right now,” Bittle says.
ELBEX has “gone from nothing to about 80 employees” since it was founded in Kent in 1992. Some key employees, such as general manager Marlin Hickey and sales manager Donna Delgado, have been with the company since the beginning, while others have been added as the company’s sales continue to increase.
“These are the people who have made this thing grow,” says Bittle.
ELBEX has more than doubled its sales figures since 1994, with sales growth of nearly 50 percent from 1997 to 1998 alone. Bittle says the company is taking steps now to ensure that it continues to grow in the future. “That’s why we just made a big investment in a new plant.”
The 34,000-square-foot factory is 90 percent operational and the move in is nearly complete.
