An article by, bizjournals.com.
It’s Christmas year-round at General Pattern Co.
The Blaine-based manufacturing company has 16,000 square feet of office space dedicated to elaborate, holiday-themed sets constructed entirely by the company’s employees.
Other areas of the 35,000-square-foot office also have unusual themed decor. CEO Denny Reiland’s personal favorite is the steampunk room inspired by the Industrial Revolution. There’s also a vibrant Lego-themed room with a small table set up for creating Lego structures.
We are a manufacturer of plastic parts — how innovative can you be? Well, if you have a good, creative environment where people come to work and they’re excited about coming, it helps a lot. – Denny Reiland, CEO, President
“We are a manufacturer of plastic parts — how innovative can you be?” Reiland said of the office space. “Well, if you have a good, creative environment where people come to work and they’re excited about coming, it helps a lot.”
The tradition of building Christmas sets started back in 2000. Business was slow at General Pattern then. Reiland said he needed to give employees in especially slow departments something to do until business picked up again. Instead of laying them off, Reiland put them to work by having them assemble a Christmas room. After the room was complete, Reiland saw it was a hit. Employees were bringing their families in to look at the set.
As time went by, more sets were constructed. Eventually, the space became too big to remain solely for visual appeal, and the company started to merge offices with the displays. Now, employees often distinguish where they work in General Pattern by the set their office is in.
When the economy was struggling in 2008, General Pattern made room in its budget to construct at least 10 sets, spreading cheer and helping staff stay busy.
Serving as an unconventional form of team-building, the unique sets also draw outside attention. Over 800 people attended the company’s annual Christmas gala last year, where displays from past and present were shown off to attendees. General Pattern also runs a go kart track in the summer.
Vice President of Sales Marcy Krosch has been with General Pattern for over a year now, but she recalls how seeing the office space made her want to work there.
“The details that are brought into any one of our themed offices is just really quite impressive. And you don’t see that necessarily in the photos,” Krosch said. “We have a moving train that goes throughout a section of our offices. We have bears moving up and down.
“From a customer’s perspective, it’s a very nice way to communicate our culture.”
Krosch emphasized that the sets do more than provide aesthetic appeal. She said they prove General Pattern is a unique vendor with an office culture where employees can work together.
