Osborn Manufacturing, the century-old Cleveland
brush maker, has undergone sweeping changes in the past year starting with
a new name to reflect its broader world focus.
Osborn International, a multimillion-dollar global manufacturer, was formed last year when parent company Jason Inc. acquired Brushes International, the leading supplier to the overseas brush market. In February, the company also acquired Sealeze, the Richmond, Va., manufacturer of specialty strip brushes.
Its been an exciting and wonderful year for us. But its been a little tough to keep up with, says Tim Hitesman, president of Osborn International. My challenge has been to figure out where I am every day. From its global headquarters in Cleveland, Osborn International now oversees operations in 10 countries.
Although layoffs and consolidation of services frequently accompany acquisitions, Hitesman says the venture has led to extraordinary job growth. Every area has grown, he says, with 50 jobs added in Cleveland alone. And that pleases Hitesman, who says, developing our people is number one on our priority list. Hiring and keeping a dedicated work force is the key to a successful company, he says. To that end, Osborn has developed a sophisticated composite assessment for selecting employees. Our approach is to identify people with the potential to be successful and then develop them.
Bucking the trend of a transient, job-hopping work force, Hitesmans goal is to give employees plenty of opportunities to grow within the company. We hate turnover, he says, proudly noting that more than 100 employees have been with Osborn for 20 years or longer. We tend to like to hire people to retire them here.
The aim is to make Osborn a place employees will recommend to their family and friends. Last year, the company implemented a referral program encouraging employees to do just that. Workers receive cash bonuses for recommending new hires.
Similarly, Osborn hosted an on-site career open house and has used area training and placement programs such as the Center for Employment Training to recruit and retain employees. These efforts have been so successful that there is currently a waiting list to join the Osborn team and they, in part, led to Osborns 1999 Manny Award for manufacturing innovation.
Beyond its commitment to its employees, Osborn invests in the downtown community it has resided in for more than 100 years. In addition to participating in a job-training program for physically disadvantaged individuals, Osborn allocates a percentage of annual sales to assess and address the needs of the neighborhood. Right now, that means food and housing, but Hitesman hopes that by the time he retires, the communitys needs will have improved beyond the basics.
At the heart of Osborn Internationals mission is a commitment to improvement and innovation within both its community and core business. Although Osborn holds more than 60 current U.S. and foreign patents more than all other brush makers worldwide combined, Hitesman realizes that his products arent glitzy, just useful. Its not a product that the average consumer relates to, [but] we are everywhere and unseen.
Virtually every manufacturing process in the world uses power brushes in some
way, Hitesman says. And in almost every application in industries as varied
as mining, automotive, jewelry and computers he says his product brings improvement.
We love to invent new brushes that save manufacturers time and money, he says.
We love this business.