Best Places to Work 2014: LEMO USA

[caption id="attachment_97438" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Julie Carlson, LEMO marketing manager[/caption]

ROHNERT PARK -- If it’s Monday, head to the cafeteria at LEMO USA’s sprawling campus on a couple of acres in Rohnert Park for free fresh fruit and bagels.

Feeling up to some exercise? Grab a paddle and take on a co-worker at ping-pong. Pull together a few other employees and go outside to start a spirited match of volleyball or soccer. “We’re installing horseshoes this week,” as well as badminton, said Julie Carlson, marketing manager for LEMO. The company picnic was on Sept. 5.

A freezer in the cafeteria offers meals to purchase from Amy’s, a local organic food company based in Petaluma.

For a manufacturing company that makes push-pull circular connectors for cables, there’s more fun here than you might expect. Carlos Rincon, who has been with LEMO for about three years, plays guitar and sings. “He did our entertainment” for a recent Wednesday night mixer held at the LEMO plant in conjunction with the Rohnert Park Chamber of Commerce, Ms. Carlson said. “When we have our Christmas party, he plays.”

Sometimes the 14 connector-assembly employees, all but two of whom are women, go outside on warm days to practice a few dance routines, according to Ms. Carlson. “It’s really fun to watch them. We do stretching exercises during the day,” Ms. Carlson said. “Everybody seems to be pretty motivated. The morale is great.”

About 45 employees are in manufacturing jobs, including 17 in cable assembly. Stretching helps avoid injuries.

The company, with domestic revenue of $62 million, has 108 employees in Rohnert Park.

The company’s local general manager, Dean Pohwala, has also been with the company three years. Mr. Pohwala’s office door really does stay open to any employee who wants to talk, Ms. Carlson said. “He is very friendly with everyone, from the janitor to shipping and receiving. He’s part of everybody’s life here.”

[caption id="attachment_97439" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Dean Pohwala, general manager, LEMO[/caption]

Headquartered in Switzerland with subsidiaries worldwide, the privately held company sometimes offers managers a chance to see the world and get paid for it. Ms. Carlson recalls recent sales meetings near the Matterhorn in the Swiss Alps, and in Amsterdam. The company was founded in 1946 by Leon Mouttet; the U.S. division was launched in 1972. Mouttet’s grandson, Alexandre Pesci, is now CEO of LEMO, and visits the Rohnert Park plant about once a year.

“It has remained in the family since 1946,” Ms. Carlson said.

LEMO owns the land and building at its Rohnert Park site.

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