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MEMBER FEATURE: 
A conversation with Kevin Stickney, Founder of Calypso Communications

Everyone has a story to tell, and here at NHBSR we jump at the chance to get to know our members through a different lens while they tell us their tales.

What we found most intriguing about Kevin Stickney’s story were the experiences and events that inspired him to start Calypso Communications. If you look at his profile on the Calypso website, you’ll see he’s earned a 99.9 percent rating on his “mastery of the written word,” along with a 90 for “leaving rogue coffee cups around the office.”  During this conversation we focused on the words, and we hope this feature meets his standards.

At NHBSR, we are lucky to have Kevin as a new board member, where he serves on the governance committee. We are also extremely fortunate to have Calypso as NHBSR’s social media sponsor—helping us engage audiences in conversation about corporate social responsibility and sustainability, upcoming NHBSR events, and the great things our members are doing here in New Hampshire. (We’d like to make a special callout to Calypso’s Devan Meserve, who has been an amazing help in keeping NHBSR’s social media life vibrant.)

We sat down with Kevin recently to learn more about his work, where he finds inspiration, and his connection to NHBSR. Growing up, Kevin loved the written word and was an avid writer and reader. In juxtaposition was his fascination with mechanical engineering, technology, and understanding how things work. He majored in English literature at Union College. After school, he joined the Peace Corps and was assigned to a village in Korea where he taught English. Given the rural location, there was time to explore other endeavors beyond the classroom. As luck would have it, Kevin discovered a farmers cooperative building irrigation systems nearby, and he was welcomed to get involved and support their efforts, allowing him to pursue his love of engineering.

After his return to the U.S. in 1980, Kevin joined environmental pioneer Wheelabrator-Frye Inc., where he eventually became VP of public affairs. He spent 16 years there and loved the challenge of translating complex projects and environmental science into understandable language for a wide range of audiences. In this job, he had a hard time finding outside agencies that understood the technologies and issues he worked with. This challenge is what prompted him to start thinking about starting a strategic communications firm poised to serve complicated industries.

When the moment was right, that’s exactly what Kevin did. Since founding Calypso (with business partner Paul Young) in 2000, Kevin has seen a rapid shift in how companies communicate technology, especially those shrouded in intricate issues that make the communication process multifaceted, yet critical. He’s also seen an increased need for accuracy, speed, and proper channel alignment. Largely based on his interests, Calypso has gravitated toward working with clients in the energy, environment, and technology arenas, but now has a strong reputation in healthcare and private equity as well.

Calypso has purposely stayed small and focused. The company has been a member of NHBSR since 2013. When asked what attracted Calypso to a NHBSR membership, Kevin said the fact that many major NH companies have memberships signaled to him the importance of the organization and motivated him to get involved. He believes that sustainability is an integral part of Calypso’s day-to-day work in striving to help businesses remain sustainable and viable for the long-term. His team enjoys working to keep businesses healthy, which helps encourage smart and talented people to stay in the state. Kevin believes businesses and organizations need to create environments where employees feel supported and enjoy contributing.

Certainly, what we found in talking with Kevin is that Calypso is a small, but mighty firm, committed to their clients as well as to their team members. One  of the benefits of being small is that they work very collaboratively, so they can each offer insight and ideas to bolster other individual or team projects. We also know that they are a team that has fun together. 

Calypso had a big year in 2015 with a couple of noteworthy events. Early in the year, Houssam Aboukhater joined the team as Kevin’s business partner and managing director. Kevin and Houssam have known each other for a long time, stemming back to Wheelabrator days, so this is a reunion of sorts. Houssam brings extensive business management and operations experience to Calypso. He has held executive positions in the manufacturing and private equity industries, and most recently was managing director of a European holding company that owned and operated numerous major hotels. His broad experience in hospitality, as well as with international business development, will serve to expand Calypso’s partnerships in many industries.

The second exciting event, which coincides with Calypso’s 15th anniversary last June, is the office’s move from Bow Street to Ladd Street (still in the heart of downtown Portsmouth). The team has embraced the new space and loves being part of the vibrant downtown community.

Calypso works with all industries, but the team most enjoys working with companies that are creative, progressive, and that value employees and want to grow. For anyone interested in learning more about Calypso Communications, Kevin welcomes a conversation. You can reach him at 603-431-0816 or via email at kstickney@calypsocom.com. 

We hope you’ll have a chance to meet Kevin and some of his team at the Spring Conference, where Calypso is the presenting sponsor, or at another upcoming event.

MEMBER FEATURE
A conversation with Allison Viger, JMD Industries

We are delighted to have JMD Industries join as a new member of NHBSR. JMD Industries, located in Hudson NH, specializes in electroplating and finishing services including zinc plating, anodizing, chromate on aluminum and more. For those of us who can’t quite visualize what this means—take a look at your cellphone, computer or common medical devices. Chances are there is at least one piece in each of those items that JMD has had a hand in. With over 3 million pieces processed a year—the chances are high. Their work covers a number of industries—aerospace, medical devices, computer components and more.

We recently caught up with Allison Viger, who in partnership with her brother, James DeDeus, carry on their family’s business that started in 1977, one that actually can be said to have started in the 1930’s.

As we know, everyone has a story and we would like to share a little history on JMD and how they’ve come to be where they are now. Allison and James’s grandfather on their mother’s side owned and operated an electroplating company called Essex Chrome Plating located in Methuen, MA. During the second World War the company had a “captive” client—that of the US military—which provided consistent work for a number of years. Roll ahead several decades to when their parents met each other and their father went to work for his father-in-law at the company. Their mother was one of seven children and with none of her siblings having an interest in taking on the family business it fell to Allison and James’s parents. After their grandfather passed away their grandmother kept the business open for another year and a half before ultimately closing.

Fast forward to 1977 and Allison and James’s father decides to open his own business, JMD Plating, which started with a loan from the Small Business Administration to get up and running in Lawrence, MA. Inspired by a long time friend and colleague, Eddie Mistal, their father started by primarily restoring auto parts—chrome bumpers and the like. By the 1980’s the focus shifted to commercial industrial components. In the late 1980’s they were approached by Digital to be a captive provider, which led to purchasing property in Hudson and moving operations there. As Digital downsized in the region, JMD Industries transitioned their focus to the growing manufacturing sector in New England.  JMD is a service provider – taking their clients’ parts, treating them with finishes and getting them ready to ship.

JMD customizes customer products by adding their brand name or logo using silk screening and part stamping. In addition to metal finishing services, JMD also offers product and finish selection consulting, research and custom process design, and assembly and custom packaging.

JMD Industries currently serves customers in all 50 states, as well as Canada and overseas. JMD Industries is dedicated to offering quality metal finishing services in an environmentally sound business model.  Electroplating and finishing providers are generally large consumers of raw materials and energy.  Allison and James believe strongly in doing the right thing when it comes to the environment. They are proactive when it comes to compliance and believe it is the driving force behind positive change. They put considerable energy into “greening up,”, and are actively pursuing options for reducing overall use of raw materials, commodities and energy. For them conservation is paramount and they plan to keep it that way.

The company was built on a foundation of exceptional and consistent quality, fast turn-around and outstanding customer service.  As JMD continues to grow, they are implementing new, and unique to the industry methods of supporting their customers.  All of which would not be possible without a team of dedicated and knowledgeable employees.

Allison and James’s goal is to have JMD be an employer that attracts quality team members and one that people want to work for. Allison oversees human resources – benefits, safety, HR and environmental compliance. James is the president and manages the day to day operations.

They both welcome conversations with other NHBSR members and can be contacted either by phone or email.

James S. DeDeus - james@jmdindustries.com, 603-882-3198
Allison Viger- allison@jmdindustries.com, 603-882-3198

Please help us welcome them to the NHBSR family!

MEMBER FEATURE
A conversation with Brett Cromwell, Global Communications Manager, Medtronic Advanced Energy

We are excited to welcome Medtronic Advanced Energy to the NHBSR community. Medtronic Advanced Energy (MAE) is a medical device company that develops and sells surgical instruments. They are based at Pease International Tradeport where they have been for more than eight years though the two main technologies they are known for, the PlasmaBlade™ and the Aquamantys System, have a much longer history. The technology that eventually became Aquamantys started in Dover in 1999 as TissueLink Medical and then became Salient Surgical in 2008, before being acquired by Medtronic in 2011. The PlasmaBlade was originally developed by a company called PEAK Surgical in Palo Alto, California, in the early 2000s, and was acquired on the same day as Salient Surgical.

The Advanced Energy team is a relatively small division (500+ staff) of Medtronic, a global company with more than 80,000 employees. This local team feels they have the best of both worlds—the ability to maintain their strong small company culture while having the benefits, resources, and support of a big company.  When one walks through the front doors of the office, they are greeted by a sign which reads—Every day through these doors walk the best people in the medical devise industry. It is apparent from speaking with team members that they are committed to the work they do and it is personal.

This was certainly true this last year when Suzanne Foster, Vice President and General Manager of Medtronic Advanced Energy, was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her journey from diagnosis to surgery and then recovery has been a very personal one with her team. Appreciated for her commitment to transparency with business, Suzanne showed this same transparency with her illness. Incredibly, the technology that her team developed was used to successfully treat her cancer. Her personal journey now includes first hand knowledge of a product created to provide a better patient experience and a quicker recovery. Working in an environment where employees are helping people with technologies that have a positive effect on their health every day clearly resonates on multiple levels. Patients are at the center of all that they do.

Having been voted as the #1 Best Company to Work For two years in a row by Business NH Magazine and NHBSR, employees are extremely proud of the company they work for, as you might imagine. The process of creating and submitting the application is no small endeavor, as those who have applied know; however, they believe that engaging a diverse team helped capture the full picture of what makes their company worth celebrating. Many give credit to Suzanne for leading the strong and supportive culture that maintains the close-knit feel and energy of a startup.  Hiring people who are passionate about the company’s Mission is critical to their success. As Suzanne herself said in her 2014 interview, “This is fundamentally what brings us together—we are inspired by what we do, about improving health care and making surgery better for patients. This bonds us together, and we know this is making a difference.”

The company promotes a vision called “Energy Everywhere,” which means that everyone at the company is encouraged to share ideas and energy.  There are both formal and informal ways that employees have an opportunity to participate.  The Global Inclusion Diversity & Engagement (GIDE) committee is one such group that was implemented company wide in 2012. This strategy charges leaders, managers and employee groups and networks to accelerate their inclusion and diversity efforts. The goal is to leverage different perspectives, backgrounds, cultures and generations in an effort to build a more inclusive environment. Employee Resource Groups are another important aspect of the company’s professional development. These networks provide employees who have similar interests and backgrounds with additional opportunities to leverage professional development through global mentoring, networking and learning sessions and allow them to share a collective voice on important issues. The Advanced Energy division has groups for women, young professionals, and veterans to name a few.

We don’t want to forget the fun quotient that is so important to having employees feel connected and valued. Medtronic has a number of wonderful benefits for employees, including weekly yoga, a volleyball court, and a foosball table, along with professional development and educational opportunities you can read about in the attached Business NH Magazine and NHBSR writeup. 

They also sponsor annual events like “Wear Pink,” which goes hand in hand with their PlasmaBlade device being used in mastectomy procedures. The Wear Pink event takes place during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. As the NFL adorns itself with the color pink in October, MAE changes the handle of its PlasmaBlade to pink as well. Creativity and innovation certainly have some fun in them as well. The Advanced Energy team is in the process of creating an Innovation Room that will provide employees a dedicated area where they can think, brainstorm, and explore ideas. With a wild colored rug on the floor, you can feel the energy already!

Should you have questions or want to learn more you can find information on their website. If you’d like to speak with a person, you can contact Brett Cromwell, Global Communications Manager, at 603-742-1515. He’d be happy to chat with you!

The Advanced Energy team looks forward to connecting with fellow NHBSR members in the year ahead!

By Shuili Du and Deborah Merrill-Sands

Over the last decade, corporate social responsibility and sustainability has occupied a prominent place on the global corporate agenda, with an ever increasing number of corporations engaging in responsible and sustainable business practices to create social and business value. Nevertheless, from Nike’s sweatshop crisis in the 1990s, ethical controversies of Walmart in mid-2000s, to BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, and now Volkswagen’s emissions scandal in 2015, we see that every few years a severe, high-profile corporate ethical scandal occurs, capturing the attention of the media and damaging the public’s trust in the corporations and their social accountability.

On Jan. 4, the U.S. justice department sued Volkswagen in federal court, questioning Volkswagen’s efforts to restore its credibility and accusing the company of impeding and obstructing regulators’ inquiries and providing misleading information. Back in December 2015, Volkswagen characterized its emissions scandal as a “chain of mistakes,” which is a gross understatement.  The company has equipped a staggering 11 million diesel cars since the 2009 model year with software – called a “defeat device” — used to cheat on emissions tests; when not being tested, the cars emit up to 40 times the allowable levels of nitrogen oxide pollution.  This emissions scandal is a disturbing case of systematic corporate fraud that has harmed customers, governments, and the health and well-being of citizens in the societies in which Volkswagen has been given the license to operate.

The effects of such corporate crises are profound and lasting. Volkswagen’s market value dropped by 23 percent in September 2015, after admitting diesel emissions cheat. The company’s sales in the U.S. declined almost 25 percent in November 2015 alone. The estimated total cost of the scandal is projected to exceed $8 billion. Much more difficult to estimate are the invisible and long term damages to the company, such as the negative impact on brand trust and reputation, customer satisfaction, employee morale and loyalty, and investor confidence. Trust, once lost, is notoriously hard to regain.

Even more importantly, there is an externality effect. Deceptions such as those perpetrated by Volkswagen not only tarnish the reputation of other automakers and even corporations in unrelated industries, but they also undermine the public’s trust in the business, and heighten consumers’ cynicism about greenwashing – and now greenfrauding.

It is yet to be seen if Volkswagen can salvage itself from the scandal. Its actions to date in handling this scandal are far from adequate. If history is a mirror, Volkswagen should draw lessons from companies that have encountered similar crises in the past. For example, Nike witnessed public outrage and massive consumer boycotts against its sweatshop labor practices in 1990s, and ever since has executed one of the greatest image turnarounds. Nike established and reinforced a code of conduct for labor practices, hired external professionals to audit its suppliers, and increased transparency of its labor practices by detailing its performance in its annual corporate social responsibility reports. Indeed, Nike has been applauded for its leadership in partnering with independent industry organizations, such as the Fair Labor Association, to foster industry-wide changes in building sustainable supply chains.

If Volkswagen is to succeed in resurrecting its image, it should act decisively.  It needs to accept full responsibility as an organization, not as a constellation of individuals, for its emissions scandal. It has to lay out a credible plan for how it will truly reduce emissions and verify its compliance with regulatory standards.  It needs to counter its stigma by making significant, long-term R&D investment to position itself as a leader, rather than a laggard, in technology development to reduce emissions while enhancing performance. And, it needs to establish stronger accountability structures and practices, as well as fostering positive changes in its corporate culture, to hold the short-term profit motive in check and prevent any future fraud.

Volkswagen gives us a stark lesson in how businesses should (not) approach social responsibility and sustainability. Deceiving stakeholders by paying lip-service and treating sustainability as façade is never going to deliver true value for the company nor for society. Indeed, as we have seen, it engenders significant costs.  Research shows that business value is created when social responsibility and sustainability are embedded in the company’s culture and core business strategies. When done right, companies benefit from a more favorable corporate image, greater customer loyalty, higher employee morale, and enhanced organizational learning and core competence.  And, in turn, societies benefit from harnessing the power and resources of corporations to address pressing social and environmental challenges.

Photo credit: ©SchoolPhotoProject.com

Dr. Shuili Du is a marketing professor at the Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics, University of New Hampshire. Her research expertise lies in understanding various ways corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability initiatives create business value. She has published research in many premier journals and has consulted to various corporations on their CSR and sustainability strategies.

Dr. Deborah Merrill-Sands is Dean of the Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics at the University of New Hampshire.  Trained as an anthropologist, she is an expert in diversity and women and leadership.  She has worked in the area of socially responsible business for the past 10 years.   Prior to her career in academic administration, she worked internationally as an applied researcher on issues of food, poverty, and economic development.