Type of business: Medical and hospitality products
Connecticut employees: 85
Connecticut locations: 1
Headquarters: Bristol
Company contact: Maureen Gallo, director of human assets and operations
Top local executive: Ayn LaPlant, president and CEO
Founded: 1934
Collectively, the Beekley Corporation has 606 years of employee service working at the company, according to Maureen Gallo, Beekley’s director of human assets and operations. The company is home to employees who, individually, have worked there as many as 33 years, and the company’s retention rate consistently runs between 80 and 90 percent, she said.
“This kind of dedication is not surprising to Beekley’s senior team. We’ve worked hard over the past 30 years to create a culture that is truly people-centric,” she explained.
A part of that is built into Beekley’s pay and benefit package, which boasts competitive salaries, profit sharing, 401(k) matching, generous vacation and time off policies and more.
But it is more than that, according Beekely president and CEO Ayn LaPlant. The company takes very seriously its people-centric philosophy, she said, and devotes enormous time to developing and training its employees.
“We have a director of continuous learning who heads up our corporate learning center programs. Our associates spend anywhere from 10 to 20 percent of their time in continuous learning. We have a very strong training program for employees within their first 30 days, but it doesn’t stop there. We consider it essential to our success that we are always training,” she said.
Beekley Corporation is located in a 30,000 square-foot building on wooded, campus-like setting in Bristol. It’s a brand new facility they moved into recently, across the street from their old location.
“It’s the pride of Beekley,” said Gallo. The building houses traditional company operations like Beekley’s continuous learning center and training rooms, offices and meeting rooms. But the company was also able to add amenities like a bistro, a fitness center and a quiet room.
Given the nature of their business, it is not surprising that Beekley is also very health conscious. It permeates everything they do, Gallo said.
“We have walking trails that weave through our campus and nearby woods and have fun ways of encouraging healthy lifestyles for our employees,” she said, adding that just last year, the American Red Cross designated Beekley one of its official “Fit Friendly Companies.”
This philosophy extends to corporate philanthropy, too, explained LaPlant, through the company’s Archangel program and various fund raisers.
“Each year, Beekley sets aside a portion of the proceeds from the sale of our mammography spot product to be donated to a local and national program that funds research, prevention and early detection. Last year, Beekely donated these monies to both the Connecticut and national chapters of the Susan G. Komen Foundation, the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Plain Tree and the Bristol Breast Health Initiative.”
LaPlant added that in July, 2009, in conjunction with the Beekely Family Foundation, the company donated a combined gift of $1 million to Bristol Hospital to help fund a comprehensive breast health center. This center, set to open in the spring of 2011, is going to be named the Beekely Center for Breast Health and Wellness at Bristol Hospital.
“Commitment,” said LaPlant, “is why we’re so successful — commitment to communication, company core values and our community.”
