They can talk philosophically about the way life in the plant has changed. They can even identify some things they might have done differently. Riverside Brass is a leading manufacturer of sprinkler heads and other industrial castings. The expansion enabled the company to produce more than a million sprinkler heads a month. They now have 130 employees, of whom 118 belong to the union.
Rapid growth can be a two-edged sword.
It can preoccupy management with the logistics of expansion. It also means an influx of new employees, not all of whom have had time to get to know and trust the corporate culture. Also, we had just built the new plant, and people think there's all kinds of money there. What they don't realize is that you may have signed your name in blood at the bank to make it happen. Seyler and Yantzi felt they'd had good employee relations in the plant.