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Eggers Industries, Two Rivers and Neenah, a world-class leader in the manufacture of architectural wood doors and plywood, didn't get to the top of its field by standing still. They have been a proactive company since their beginnings in 1884.
Many awards bear this out, including being named Manufacturer of the Year in 2001 in the medium-size business category by the Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce, (and headed for the state competition February 28), and receiving the 2000 Woodworking Machinery Industry Association (WMIA) Innovator Award for being at the forefront of technological advancement and new machinery implementation.
Eggers Industries also was featured on the March 2001 cover of the national trade publication, Wood Digest.
Although a successful company, Eggers executive management embarked on a challenge in 1994 to transform Eggers toward becoming a visionary company. This effort resulted in the development of The Eggers' Way, a book for employees that explains how the parts of the visionary process fit together and describes the key principles necessary to make the visionary process work. A 25-page summarized version, called The Guide, is required reading for every new employee. New employees also go through 10 to 15 hours of discussion and review of The Eggers' Way to make sure they understand what the company is trying to achieve and to make sure employees are committed to helping Eggers become a visionary company. Eggers says that following the tenets in the The Eggers' Way will result in:
* Creating a win for the employee.
* Creating a win for the customer.
* Creating a win for Eggers.
Eggers, a closely held com pany headquartered in Two Rivers, has been controlled by the same family since the 1940s. Jay Streu, current president and CEO of Eggers, took the reins from his father-in-law, Jim Lester, two years ago. "With the company values, philosophy and direction clearly shared with all employees through The Eggers' Way, the transition in leadership was virtually seamless," says Streu.
One of the core values of "The Eggers' Way" philosophy is providing a safe and meaningful work environment. Recently significant improvement has been made in the area of employee safety. For all three facilities combined, instances of employee claims due to work injury in 2001 were reduced by...