VIBCO Vibrators uniquely fun and highly productive business culture was the subject of a feature story in the March 24, 2012 Sunday Westerly Sun Newspaper.
VIBCO's feeling good vibrations
by CYNTHIA DRUMMOND / Sun Staff Writer / Posted Saturday, March 24 11:45pm
When Henry Lawrence turned 64, his employer told him he had to retire. Lawrence, a talented machinist, found a job at VIBCO and, 16 years later at the age of 80, he’s still hard at work.
“I enjoy my work,” he says. “It’s like getting paid for a hobby. Some people like to make things out of wood or clay. I prefer metal. I have fun, and it keeps me fit.”
The word “fun” is used a lot at the VIBCO factory. The Richmond company, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary this year, has been manufacturing and selling industrial vibrators since 1962. Its president, Karl Wadensten, is a larger-than-life figure whose personality animates everything at the company. He is frequently photographed wearing a Vietnam era combat helmet and chewing on a cigar. Like World War II’s Gen. George S. Patton, Wadensten says he is “at war,” but his is a “war on waste.”
“You’re only confined by your thoughts in your head, so let’s empower everybody,” says this brazen, helmet-wearing, cigar-chewing executive... Read the full story at The Westerly Sun Website