Home About Us Our Purpose Products R&D Employment COVID-19 Response Alene Candles in the news. Congressman Troy Balderson Tours Alene Candles Midwest Congressman Troy Balderson (OH-12) toured Alene Candles' manufacturing facility in New Albany, Ohio, to highlight manufacturing month and workforce development in the state. Continue reading NH’s Best Companies to Work For Are... For 24 years, Business NH Magazine has recognized businesses that go out of their way to create engaging workplaces. These are businesses that recognize that a fulfilled employee is more productive. This year’s competition is unique as it also examines how companies adjusted their culture and policies for the pandemic and how they are ensuring that their employee practices are inclusive and equitable for all employees. The 2021 competition attracted applicants from across the state. Applicants had to have their employees take an engagement survey and they had to complete an extensive employer survey, detailing benefits and workplace practices. Winners were determined from the results of both of those. Fully, 25 NH companies exceeded the bar of excellence. The following are the 2021 winning companies: #1 – Sunrise Labs in Bedford #2 – Geophysical Survey Systems in Nashua #3 – Red River in Claremont #4 – Mascoma Bank in Lebanon #5 – Lindt & Spr ü ngli USA in Statham #6 – Novocure in Portsmouth #7 – Mainstay Technologies in Belmont and Manchester #8 – Bangor Savings Bank in Portsmouth #9 – Merchants Fleet in Hooksett #10 – ITR Economics in Manchester #11 – CoreMedical Group in Manchester #12 – The Granite Group in Concord #13 – CCA Global Partners in Manchester #14 – Polyonics in Westmoreland #15 – Bellwether Community Credit Union in Manchester #16 – Wire Belt Company of America in Londonderry #17 – Loftware in Portsmouth #18 – DEW Construction in Keene and Manchester #19– Boothby Therapy Services in Laconia #20 – MegaFood in Manchester #21 – Granite State Credit Union in Manchester #22 – Sanborn Head & Associates in Concord #23 – Alene Candles in Milford #24 – Vapotherm in Exeter #25 – Cohen Closing & Title in Bedford To learn about these great companies and the creative ways they attract and retain the best employees possible, their stories are shared in the September issue that is available at www.businessnhmagazine.com/back-issues/september-2021. Companies that earn a place on the Best Companies to Work For list four out of five years are inducted into the Hall of Fame for two years. Four companies were inducted into the 2021 Hall of Fame: Impax Asset Management in Portsmouth, Klüber Lubrication in Londonderry, Northeast Delta Dental in Concord and Novo Nordisk US Bio Production in Lebanon. To celebrate the 2021 winners, Business NH Magazine will host the Breakfast with The Best on Sept. 30 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Manchester. (Note this may pivot to a virtual event.) Jermaine Moore, founder of The Mars Hill Group and specialist in diversity, equity and inclusion will give the keynote address, “Helping Your Team Reach New Heights.” The Breakfast will be held at the DoubleTree by Hilton in downtown Manchester from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. To register for the event, visit www.businessnhmagazine.com/events/2021-breakfast-with-the-best . (If we have to switch to a virtual event, we will contact people a week before September 30th. Sponsors of this year’s breakfast are: Best Companies Sponsor: Northeast Delta Dental and Breakfast Sponsor: Merchants Fleet. ﻿ For more information on the winners, please contact Editor Matt Mowry at 603-557-9561 or mmowry@BusinessNHmagazine.com. For more information on the event, please call the event manager Kelly Keating Winchester or the events coordinator Vicki Pelczar at 603.626.6354 Extensions 224 and 223 respectively. Continue reading Candle company opens second New Hampshire facility JUST in time for the holiday production rush, Alene Candles of Milford has expanded its operations and opened a new location in Amherst. “This gives us an opportunity to consolidate closer to home and also support some expansion,” Rod Harl, president and CEO of Alene Candles. The company worked with a developer from Boston to secure the new facility at 1 Bon Terrain Drive, which provides 200,000 square feet of manufacturing, warehousing and office space for the candle company. “It has been empty for a few years,” Harl said of the property formerly occupied by the F.W. Webb Company; Alene is occupying about half of the large structure. Improvements have been underway at the new site since May, and employees began occupying the building earlier this month, according to Harl. The company’s main campus is still housed in Milford and offers about 170,000 square feet of space among three buildings. Some of Alene Candle’s off-site storage is now able to be consolidated, and the new space in Amherst provides new capabilities and new opportunities for glass decorating, he said. The expansion, coupled with the upcoming holiday season, means Alene is seeking additional employees. “We have hundreds of positions available as we are ramping up for the season,” said Harl, adding dozens of those positions are full-time employment opportunities and not just seasonal posts. Company-wide, Alene Candles is producing between 500,000 and 1 million candles a day, he said. It has about 350 employees helping to fill production orders. Alene Candles designs and produces candles for dozens of clients, including well-known retailers such as White Barn and Bath and Body Works, as well as high-end retailers in the New York cosmetics industry. Aside from its headquarters in Milford and its new facility in Amherst, the company also has two sites in Ohio and offices in New York. Alene Candles was previously named one of New Hampshire’s “Best Companies to Work For” by Business New Hampshire Magazine. It has also been recognized as one of 17 honorees across the country from the TD Bank Thanks You campaign after producing and donating more than 60,000 face shields to more than 200 organizations last summer. Business is robust, despite the pandemic, according to Harl, who said the company’s biggest challenge is filling its workforce. “We are always looking to hire,” he said. In addition to Gov. Chris Sununu’s Summer Stipend Program, Alene Candles is offering sign-on bonuses up to $1,200 for some critical, permanent positions, according to a release. Sununu announced his summer stipend initiative in May, which was created to coincide with the state’s decision to end federal pandemic unemployment benefits. Continue reading New Hampshire company offers incentives to employees to increase vaccination rate MILFORD, N.H. — A New Hampshire company has increased incentives in hopes of increasing the vaccination rate among its employees. The CEO told News 9 he has upped the ante as the delta variant spreads. ﻿ Based out of Milford, Alene Candles pivoted production in the early parts of the pandemic to create face shields. The company kept hundreds of people employed between New Hampshire and Ohio. “Since vaccines have been available we really mounted an education campaign to enable all our employees to have the information they need to get comfortable in pursuing a vaccine,” CEO Rod Harl said. Crafting an easily digestible vaccine message is a delicate act. To encourage employees to get a shot, Alene has offered paid time off for vaccine appointments, gift cards for proof of vaccination and set up on-site vaccine clinics. The company also hosted a roundtable discussion with a doctor from Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center who fielded questions in multiple languages. “They may be collecting rumors or hearsay from other folks. So, bringing in a medical professional that can speak to people in their own language and can answer questions of all types and not pass any judgment. That’s a resource I was thrilled to provide,” Harl said. Despite their efforts, he said they have experienced community spread at the Ohio facility, nothing significant has happened in the Granite State. “At the end of the day, there are companies who took risks with their employees and made some decisions that we chose not to make in the interest of our partners and business really,” Harl said. At the New Hampshire facility, social distancing has been maintained and masking has been optional, but Alene believes that could change if the delta variant runs rampant in the state. Continue reading Governor Sununu Visits Alene Candles as They Seek to Hire 250+ Workers Nation’s leading contract candle manufacturer set to hire 250+ seasonal and full-time employees amid labor shortage and heading into its summer busy season. Continue reading Alene Candles seeks to hire 400, offers $1,200 signing bonus, three-day work week NEW ALBANY -- Alene Candles, like many companies, is so desperate for employees at its New Albany facility, it not only offers new hires a job, but also a $1,200 signing bonus and four days off a week. The New Hampshire-based company, which opened its Licking County facility in 2012 and expanded in 2019, announced in April it seeks to hire 400 for its operation in the New Albany Personal Care and Beauty Campus, including 300 candlemakers for seasonal work and 100 full-time, year-round positions. Rod Harl, company president and CEO, said Tuesday there are still 80 open skilled positions and almost 200 factory positions available. The sign-on bonuses are for certain positions and a restructured shift schedule allows employees to work a three-day, 36-hour week with a minimum hourly rate of $14.50. The company, one of the nation’s leading contract and private-label candle manufacturers, will increase starting salaries and hourly pay for all employees so everyone earns the equivalent of the 40-hour week previously worked while still enjoying four-day weekends. It has 200 full-time employees and 600 total. "We need people now," Harl said. "We need people not just to sign on, but stay with us. We’d like to hire people, even temporary, looking for a full-time job. We’re adding people every week, but it’s a challenge.” ﻿ Ohio Means Jobs/Licking County workforce development administrator Angela Carnahan said many employers are using incentives such as signing bonuses, retention bonuses, referral incentives for current employees and wages increases. A $300 weekly supplement to unemployment benefits will end in late June. Last year, unemployed received a $600 weekly supplement ending in late July/early August. Harl said he believes the supplements to unemployment have delayed some people from returning to work, but Licking County's March unemployment was 3.8%, down from 4.7% in March 2020. Two years ago, the county's unemployment was 3.6%. "Last year, we offered $600 bonus to come in early," Harl said. "We saw a change in applications. We’re seeing a similar phenomenon this year. It’s bringing people in, but we still are struggling.” Alene Candles' productivity in 2020 eclipsed its 2019 numbers, despite closing its factory for several months to produce face shields for medical personnel and first responders. The company paid all of its 200 New Albany employees during the shutdown, but 20 to 25 employees volunteered to come in to make the face shields. Two-thirds of its candles sold are in the second half of the year, and 40 percent in the fourth quarter. The company's growth is expected to continue into 2022. “We’re finding our customers are asking us for as much product as we can turn out, even though it’s not typical holiday season," Harl said. "It’s the highest demand, at this time of year, we’ve ever seen.” Alene Candles began manufacturing in a 100,000-square foot space in a multi-tenant building at the New Albany campus in 2012. Then, in October 2019, it broke ground on a $30 million, 280,000-square foot warehouse a mile from its manufacturing facility. Harl said he's not sure if fear of COVID has kept job seekers away, but said the company has a good safety record. “It’s tough to tell," Harl said. "We’ve had good success internally. There's no evidence of community transmission on site. We’ve let people go because they're not following safety protocols. Those following the rules have not gotten sick. “I’d probably say child care, that may be a bigger impediment than fear (of COVID) at this point. We’re also looking at transportation, a bus service to serve people living some distance away, at a reduced or low cost." He said the Newark-Granville market is important to the company, which also depends on immigrant workers, enjoying a good relationship with the Somalia community. Still, finding workers is a problem not likely going away, he said. The county's workforce of 91,300 and employment of 87,900 is more than March of 2020 or March of 2019. There were 3,400 unemployed in Licking County in March, down from 4,300 the previous year. “We knew the location of New Albany would, in time, be challenging for attracting workers, but it’s terrific from a supply chain and integration with other suppliers," Harl said. “The central Ohio focus has been on attracting companies that create jobs, and that’s terrific for our economic development. But, it's time to get people to move (here). We’d love to help attract people to central Ohio.” Continue reading New Albany candle facility looking to fill 400 positions as peak production season nears Peak production season for Alene Candles takes place each summer, as the company braces for a high volume of orders ahead of the holidays. Continue reading Alene Candles honors local leaders as ‘Milford Luminaries’ MILFORD, NH – Even during a pandemic, Alene Candles, for the second year in a row, is praising those in the community who have given back helping families, friends and neighbors. The Milford Luminaries program recognizes four outstanding individuals who have gone above and beyond during the COVID-19 pandemic. Alene Candles president and CEO Rod Harl said there was never a doubt that the luminaries project would not continue. “Last year was the first year where we did this,” he said. “And the response was terrific. It was strong enough that we wanted to come back and offer it again.” In 2019, the program’s inaugural year, the Milford Luminaries recognized four outstanding individuals for their contributions to making Milford a great place to live and work. Alene Candles made $1,000 donations to: Beaver Brook Association on behalf of Celeste Philbrick Barr; Opportunity Networks on behalf of Rocky Morelli; the Boys & Girls Club of Souhegan Valley on behalf of Alan Woolfson; and SHARE Outreach on behalf of Frank Xydias, M.Ed. Harl said there were many people who helped the area in tremendous ways during the COVID-19 shutdown and continue to help the community. “We wanted to encourage and support the charitable contributions, the do-gooder aspects of the community,” Harl said. “This year had quite a series of changes for everyone. And our focus in the first half of the year, from March – May, was pivoting to making face masks and making sure we were doing our part to support the community.” Earlier this year, Alene Candles transformed its Milford and New Albany, Ohio production facilities to assemble 60,000 face shields to help with the critical personal protective equipment shortage throughout the country. The company donated the face shields to more than 200 community organizations free of charge. When March came and the coronavirus found its footing, Harl said Alene Candles’ strategic plan was to adjust and deal with the circumstance instead of reeling from it. “During the week of March 16, we were receiving mixed guidance from the government, at the state and federal level,” he said. “There was confusion as to what we should be doing.” Harl and some of his manufacturing friends of his across the eastern seaboard were comparing notes and sharing information about what was going on, as often as multiple times a day. “We operated the week of the 16th with modest social distancing in place,” he stated. “As I was following the news that entire week, by Wednesday I said, ‘We need to plan to shut down at the end of this production week.’ We actually ran heavy and had some overtime at the end of the week running a couple of extra days so we could leave ourselves in a good position.” After that week, Harl didn’t want his staff going through news media cycle after news media cycle by closing and opening up repeatedly. By the end of the week of March 16, he knew the company would have to take the next line of defense and determine a plan of action. “We had done our first step,” he said. “So, the question was, ‘What do we do next?’ We had people, management and space. We couldn’t handle alcohol, because we simply weren’t engineered for that. We couldn’t make FDA regulated material, because we’re not an FDA compliant facility even though we use many of those procedures.” The topic of making safety equipment came up. And while Harl and his team knew they could meet the task, there was still the issue of not having supplier relationships. “We don’t source plastic typically,” he said. By the end of March, Harl contacted the state and received a call regarding a possible plastic supplier and by using a Johns Hopkin design that one of Alene Candles’ engineers had downloaded, the manufacturing firm was up and running making face shields prototypes. “Six components go into this,” Harl said. “Only one of them we had, which was a stapler. From the spray adhesive to the foam to the plastic shield and the elastic, all those became in short supply so we knew that we had to move quickly.” One Alene Candles employee, senior manufacturing engineer Sarah Lambie began making a dozen trips to Maine to pick up sheet plastic in what Harl called, “a wartime atmosphere.” During the first three weeks, Harl said it was a battle regimen with regular status updates and following COVID-19 news updates from CNN. “In April, the supply chains had the ability for us to get materials,” he said. “The panic had subsided by then.” That didn’t mean that Alene Candles would return to manufacturing their own products. “We put a complete stop to that,” Harl said. “We started the mechanics of reopening on May 4 but May was sort of a wash for regardless. We made some candles in May but it was stop and start.” Harl said that his company is ready for another surge, but ultimately, first and foremost, the firm will stand by its people. “We will do what we think is best,” he said. “We as businesspeople really set the stage for what actions to take. If we have a second wave or trauma to the system, we can do the same thing.” Nashua Telegraph Article Continue reading Pivoting to Making Masks MILFORD, NH - With medical personnel and first responders in desperate need of personal protective equipment, Alene Candles in Milford and Peak Achievement Athletics in Exeter turned from producing candles and athletic equipment respectively to crafting face shields. To date, Alene has made 30,000 face shields in NH and 30,000 in its Ohio facility. “I’m so incredibly proud of our team for banding together to give back to those in the community who are working on the front line to battle the coronavirus pandemic,” says Rod Harl, president and CEO of Alene. “In just seven days, we went from an idea about how we can harness our resources to positively impact the greater good to producing face shields and delivering them to hundreds of community organizations. We are thankful that we can play a role in fighting this pandemic, no matter how small.” Company leaders brainstormed ways to put manufacturing resources to use during the pandemic. After having discussions with several industry peers, Alene located a face shield design from John Hopkins University and then got to work identifying suppliers, eventually partnering with Thermoformed Plastics of New England in Biddeford, Maine. Early in the pandemic, Peak Achievement Athletics, the parent company of Bauer Hockey, Easton Baseball/Softball, Cascade Lacrosse and Maverik Lacrosse, was able to shift production to medical-grade masks at the Cascade and Bauer manufacturing center in Liverpool, NY as well as at the Bauer Innovation Center in Blainville, Quebec. “Our team is built around an athlete’s mentality and the ways we can enhance performance and protection. We viewed the virus as the competition. When this pandemic hit, it was a natural shift to figure out how we can fight back and help the larger cause,” says Ed Kinnaly, CEO of Peak Achievement Athletics. When orders topped one million, the company shared the manufacturing instructions online making it possible for other firms to join the effort. “I’m so proud of the way our team responded. We pivoted almost instantaneously to manufacture medical shields. It didn’t take long for orders to exceed capacity, so we made our designs and supplier info public,” says Kinnaly. “Through the media, we urged other manufacturers to step up and help us protect the medical community on the front lines helping others despite not having proper equipment. In the end, we viewed it as a part of our ‘One Team’ mission.” For more information, visit alene.com and bauer.com https://www.businessnhmagazine.com/article/pivoting-to-making-masks Continue reading New Albany business park manufacturers switch gears during pandemic NEW ALBANY - Alene Candles, 8860 Smith’s Mill Road in the New Albany International Business Park, suspended its candle-manufacturing operations in mid-March because of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, said plant manager Darrell Finck. But manufacturing at the facility has been going strong once again, as staff members work hard to produce plastic face shields instead of candles. Finck said the company plans to make 40,000 face shields for health-care workers to use with masks they wear. He said he is proud of employees, who are voluntarily stepping up. “It’s definitely inspiring,” he said. Alene Candles has not been alone in its efforts. Other companies in the New Albany International Business Park have been stepping up to provide supplies for those on the front lines of the pandemic. They include Bocchi Laboratories’ pivot to manufacturing hand sanitizer and Exhibitpro’s collaboration with a Phoenix, Arizona, engineering firm to produce face shields. Alene’s production of face shields began April 9, Finck said. After the company stopped its candle production, leaders soon began discussing how the company could help during the pandemic, he said. They settled on the design and manufacturing of face shields. Using a design from Johns Hopkins University, engineering teams worked on a way for the facility to produce them, Finck said. The plastic shield extends from the forehead to below the chin, and a strip of material provides padding for the wearer’s forehead, he said. The shield is secured with an elastic band around the head and is designed to fit over a mask. The company’s 250 employees still are on payroll, Finck said, and nearly 20 employees are voluntarily working to produce the shields. As of April 16, Alene had produced 10,000 shields, Finck said. A variety of organizations and businesses are using them, including local fire departments, ambulance services, dental and surgical practices and first responders, he said. Exhibitpro at 8900 Smith’s Mill Road N. also has been making face shields. The company is an experiential marketing firm that specializes in designing and fabricating trade-show exhibits, events and branded environments, said Blake Miller, director of sales. But the firm went in another direction to provide 200 face shields for the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix. The initiative originated from conversations CEO Lori Miller had with her daughter, Shae Saint-Amor, a Mayo Clinic employee, about the lack of personal-protective equipment for staff members, Miller said. Exhibitpro was able to partner with Phoenix engineering firm Augspurger Komm Engineering, where Shae Saint-Amor’s husband, Justin Saint-Amor, works, Miller said. Exhibitpro was able to cut plastic the business already had into the shape of shields, and the engineering firm 3D printed a band that connects the shield to the wearer’s head, Miller said. The first shipment of face shields to the Mayo Clinic was April 15, and the second was April 24, Miller said. Less than a half mile down the road from Exhibitpro, Bocchi Laboratories, at 9200 Smith’s Mill Road, has been making hand sanitizer. Under normal circumstances, Bocchi is a contract manufacturer that makes many products for customers, said Elena Olivieri, vice president and general manager. Some of the cosmetic products were alcohol-based, and Bocchi was able to begin producing hand sanitizer, she said. Bocchi is manufacturing little to no other products, Olivieri said. “We’re having to react to the supply chain,” she said. About 70 people across multiple shifts are producing the sanitizer, and they are working voluntarily, Olivieri said. Other workers are at home, but all staff members still are on the payroll, she said. Bocchi is producing 2-ounce bottles of sanitizer, as well as gallon containers for industrial use, Olivieri said. Customers provide the bottles, she said. “We’re trying to hit all the markets as best we can,” she said. Both new and old customers, from Ohio and beyond, have been reaching out for sanitizer, Olivieri said. The company also is making 5,000 bottles of sanitizer to donate to central Ohio organizations, she said. Olivieri said Bocchi wants to produce sanitizer for as long as possible. At some point, stores will reopen, and then the company will have to help the retail industry get back on its feet, she said. https://www.thisweeknews.com/news/20200427/new-albany-business-park-manufacturers-switch-gears-during-pandemic Continue reading Show More Headquarters & Manufacturing Plant 51 Scarborough Lane Milford, New Hampshire 03055 P 603.673.5050 F 603.673.6544 Midwest Manufacturing Plant 8860 Smith's Mill Road, Suite 100 New Albany, Ohio 43054 P 614.933.4005 F 614.933.4064 Showroom & Business Development 263 Ninth Avenue, Suite 1B New York, New York 10001 P 212.255.4363 F 208.439.9993 © 2021 All Rights Reserved | Alene Candles | Privacy Policy