Local employees learn how their work benefits company
Employees of Cypress/Hermitage Enterprises receive a hand-guided tour of the Home Depot Roxbury location in Charles City.
Charles City’s Home Depot Roxbury location held its “Giving Back and Building Strong Relationships “ program sponsored by Home Depot Interiors (HDI) manufacturing facility and Cypress/Hermitage Enterprises, that provides opportunities for intellectually challenged residents of Henrico, Charles City, and New Kent.
HDI and Cypress recently invited some of the workers to tour the plant to see just how what they do helps. Questions were asked, with answers providing an overall fascination with the facility’s production. Attendees witnessed how items such as computerized routers cut out doors and a membrane press that gives color to them.
The real excitement came in the hardware room where “brown bumper kits,” and safety glasses were provided to everyone. The group watched machines assemble with a sense of pride of the contributions that they do help provide services to Home Depot customers.
HDI manufacturers re-facing components like cabinet doors, cabinets, and laminate countertops for Home Depot retail customers. Cypress provides packaging and assembly, light manufacturing, mailing, and fulfillment services to area businesses.
“Without these wonderful individuals, we would pay additional fees and deal with reduced storage space in the facility,” says Candace Raines, purchasing manager for HDI.
Cypress provides a variety of services including the packaging of drawer slide rear mount sockets, or boots as they are known; Kolbe Korners or brown bumper kits; Lead Safe work boxes and cabinet shelf clips.
Dalfonzo Williams of Cypress had this to say about the tour: “I would like to say thank you very much for the tour. For individuals that work at Cypress, seeing how the work that they do fits into the larger picture of your manufacturing process was very validating. I think that it confirmed something for them that everyone should feel about their work-that their job is important and that it helps people.
“Knowing that the screw kits that they put together and the lead paint kits that are assembled get used in peoples’ homes all over the country is a source of pride for us,” he continued.
“Also, seeing people working at the facility gives some of the individuals here a career goal to aspire to. After the tour, more than one person stated to me that they would like to work at Home Depot one day, when they have learned the skills needed to do the type of work that they observed. Thank you for this tour and especially for the ongoing support that we have enjoyed over the years.”