Running a small factory is not easy. Aside from the continuous investment on equipments, you need to seriously consider the wastes – how to manage them so that they won’t harm local area. However, there is one business worth mentioning: IceStone, LLC.
Headquartered in Brooklyn, NY, Ice Stone is one of the victims of the latest Hurricane Sandy, with an estimated cost of recovery around $3 million. But with the help of their empowered workers, recovery costs less than $1 million.
How Ice Stone manages to have 38 highly motivated and dedicated employees? Read on to find out – but first things first: Why green concrete? How?
What does Ice Stone do, exactly?
Ice Stone produces the greenest, durable countertops of all: They are made of recycled glass and concrete, and every production process focuses on sustainability.
Ice Stone’s production philosophy is cradle to cradle, which means the byproducts of the factory are recycled and repurposed into other useful forms.
Their main product line is the recycled counter tops. Not only they look great, they are also sustainable, which also add to their main selling point.
If you think the finished products wonderful, wait until you know what’s going on with the wastes and byproducts.
Why green products and business practices matter?
Ice Stone turns some of their wastes into something else useful – such as road in the factory.
Not only waste management, they are also taking care of the green practices in the factory: It uses natural lights as much as possible; they also use soy-based lubricants for the production.
As Ice Stone depends heavily on water – mainly for cutting and polishing processes – efficiency in the usage will make a big impact on the environment – and their bottom line. So they invested in a water recycling system, which saves the company – and environment – several millions of gallons of fresh water annually.
They have managed to recycle 80-85 percent of their waste – but they are close to the ultimate goal: Zero-waste factory.
But why Ice Stone insist on producing green products and adopting the green practices?
70 percent of glass wastes end up in landfill. Ice Stone tries to reverse the trend – by reprocess the wastes into quality product, they have taken their part in reducing wastes. Along with their vision of zero-waste, the company thrives to grow by embracing sustainability.
IceStone = rockin’ employer
As you can watch in the video, Ice Stone takes a great care of their employees.
With employees with diverse backgrounds (from dozens of different countries) the management team does its best to make everything accessible, particularly in lowering the language barrier.
IceStone also does a unique way to celebrate top performers: Every employee of the month is honored by having his portrait painted.
But perhaps the driving force behind the proactive employees is the fact that each and every of them is, in fact, company owners – they own a certain amount of company stocks.
Hit by the Hurricane Sandy, IceStone was literally revived by its stockholders and stakeholders: Their employees. The company’s effort in taking a good care of its employees seems to be paying off…
Takeaway
Want small business success? Then you should focus on your people, local community, as well as the environment.
