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| Dan Clore... |
 Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 5:37 pm |
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Isthmus Engineering featured in Michael Moore film
By JANE BURNS| 608-252-6440| jburns at (no spam) madison.com |
Wednesday, October 14, 2009 5:30 pm
When Donna Hobbs goes to business events, she might not get a chance to
learn anything new that would help her in her human resources job at
Isthmus Engineering and Manufacturing. That's because when other
managers learn about her workplace, all the questions come at her.
"When I try to go anywhere, the speaker just stops talking and I take
over just talking about our structure," said Hobbs, a 19-year member of
the worker cooperative that was founded in 1982. "People say, 'How does
that work? That can't work.' They can't believe it works."
More people are finding out that it does, thanks to a few minutes on the
big screen. Filmmaker Michael Moore features the company in his new
documentary, "Capitalism: A Love Story." It looks at businesses central
to the economic collapse, and presents the democratic workplace at
Isthmus Engineering as an alternative to a capitalist system that
profits bosses and shareholders.
Madison has worker cooperatives in more visible retail and service
companies such as Union Cab, which was interviewed but not included in
the film, Community Pharmacy or Nature's Way Bakery.
Isthmus Engineering, 4035 Owl Creek Drive, has quietly gone about its
business of designing machines for companies to put together the pieces
of their products. Some are familiar to the average consumer: People who
click their Bic pen, brush with an Oral-B toothbrush or shush their baby
with a Nuk pacifier have put the company's designs into action.
The professional nature of the Isthmus Engineering was likely part of
the appeal for Moore, members say. It's a structure that's often
associated with the counterculture, not a company with annual revenues
of $15 million.
"Michael Moore said we looked like a bunch of Republicans," John
Kessler, one of the company's founders, said of a television appearance
by the filmmaker. "But I'm fine with that. If we are going to be a
model, that's who we're going to have to appeal to. We can't just appeal
to a bunch of long-haired wackos."
The 45-member firm of engineers, machinists, electricians, assemblers
and more includes 29 people who share company ownership. Employees are
eligible whether they are a mechanical engineer or receptionist, but the
sales manager and general manager are not. Decision-making is based on
one person, one vote, no matter how long a member has worked at the company.
There is profit-sharing, based on a formula that includes hours worked
and a "value ladder" that also helps determine salary. Members declined
to disclose the financial value of the profit shares.
"I've always been disappointed we are so unique," Kessler said. "It
doesn't seem like that crazy of an idea. It seems like a logical way to
run a business."
Not all employees choose to become members. Non-members have benefits
but members do not, the logic being that it's all the same money for the
owners, who benefit from the profits of a good year.
The board is made up of all members. It meets every other Monday and
makes all company decisions, from hiring new employees to buying new
machinery to choosing paint colors.
"We don't have the guy who's going to sell the business and get rid of
us," Hobbs said. "We don't have anybody else making the decisions for us."
When Kessler and three others founded Isthmus Engineering, they wanted a
company based on fairness and learned about the cooperative model. The
result, members say, is low turnover and teamwork because members
benefit when co-workers do well.
"This whole place works on the honor system," said controls engineer Ole
Olson, a 19-year member. "You hand in a piece of paper that's
hand-written and it shows the time you worked. We try to work with as
few rules as possible and let common sense be our guide."
That's all common sense to the people at Isthmus Engineering and
Manufacturing, but they know that's not how it would be if they were to
ever leave the company.
"I'd be fired," Hobbs said. "We're so mouthy and used to voicing our
opinions."
ISTHMUS ENGINEERING AND MANUFACTURING
Address: 4035 Owl Creek Drive
Web site: http://isthmuseng.com
Founded: 1980, became a worker cooperative in 1982
Owners: 29 employee members
Mission: To design, create and build custom automated machines
Employees: 45
Annual revenues: $15 million
--
Dan Clore
New book: _Weird Words: A Lovecraftian Lexicon_:
http://tinyurl.com/yd3bxkw
My collected fiction: _The Unspeakable and Others_
(Wait for the new edition: http://hplmythos.com/ )
Lord We˙rdgliffe & Necronomicon Page:
http://tinyurl.com/292yz9
News & Views for Anarchists & Activists:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo
"From the point of view of the defense of our society,
there only exists one danger -- that workers succeed in
speaking to each other about their condition and their
aspirations _without intermediaries_."
--Censor (Gianfranco Sanguinetti), _The Real Report on
the Last Chance to Save Capitalism in Italy_ |
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