In last month’s issue we profiled Norman Smith, 82, NIBCO’s longest tenured associate who started work in 1963. (https://tinyurl.com/3hepwf5u). While his longevity is record-setting, Norman can count himself among 15 percent of NIBCO’s workforce who are members of the company’s 25 Year Club. However, Norman also works with his son, Gregg Smith, at NIBCO’s copper fittings factory in Stuarts Draft, Virginia, which puts the two in another class.

Not only do plenty of NIBCO associates tend to stick around, currently there are 97 individuals who make up multigenerational families. That is to say, people like Craig who followed behind his father Norman.

Or Sally Boyer, NIBCO’s director of marketing communications, who’s worked at the company for 39 years with some of those years bumping into one of her fellow colleagues, Sandra Walker, also known as “mom.” These days, Boyer may see both of her daughters, Olivia Swinehart and Madelyn Platz, at work.

The sisters grew up at NIBCO — literally.

“We’d run the hallways, have chair races, and turn an empty meeting room into our boardroom, pretending we were the executives, ,” Madelyn says. “I remember being part of the 100-year celebration as a kid. Now we’re here for the 120-year celebration — it’s surreal.”

Working alongside their mom has made it even more special. “We have fun,” Olivia says. “This company raised us and now it’s our turn to be part of it.”

We talked to the sisters along with two other multigenerational associates to share their stories:

Olivia Swinehart, customer service supervisor and Madelyn Platz, marketing/product management trainee

For sisters Olivia and Madelyn working at NIBCO INC. isn’t just about a job — it’s a family legacy.

“I never imagined that I’d come here,” Olivia says, recalling how she grew up watching both her mom and grandmother work at NIBCO. “It was nothing against the company. It was just, I’m not working with my mom and grandma — that’s a lot.”

But after trying a few other jobs, her mother encouraged her to try a customer service role at NIBCO.

Now 11 years in, Olivia has held five positions and is currently a customer service supervisor. In addition, she is back at college to finish her degree to continue on at NIBCO and possibly join the 25 Year Club. 

“I wear many hats as many people do here,” she adds. 

As a working mother, Olivia especially enjoys the camaraderie of working alongside women leaders at NIBCO.

“All my friends are stay-at-home moms so I don’t have any young moms to relate to,” she says. “So having seen Alice’s work [Alice Martin founded the NIBWomen’s Group in 2010 to help develop and promote women leaders within the company] and working with my mom and Dawn Bloch[vice president and chief people officer], people who have inspired me to continue to work has been the biggest blessing to me. I can show my kids I can do it, and I think that’s the coolest thing.”

One of her favorite roles is recruiting young people into NIBCO’s 16-month trainee program.

“Most of the younger generation is hungry for money,” she says, “but I get to talk to them about values — ownership, work-life balance and how your company should align with your values. That’s something I’ve learned here.”

One of the people Olivia recruited to the trainee program is her sister. After college, Madelyn moved to Arizona. She figured she’d try a new place for a year and ended up spending six years as she built a career with a large homebuilder. Last year, however, she and her husband, also from Indiana, decided to move back.

“I wanted to find a company that felt like family,” she says. “Knowing what my mom and sister said about NIBCO, I knew I’d find that here. The idea of working at NIBCO was very intriguing to me. I wanted that family culture where I know that if you put in the hard work, there’s room for growth.”

She’s wrapped up her time in the trainee program, and plans to head into marketing and product management.

“It’s exceeded my expectations,” she says. “Everyone I’ve met, whether it’s corporate, manufacturing, or leadership, is genuinely kind, caring and welcoming. A lot of people here have been with the company for decades, and they want to share what they know. Everyone wants to see you succeed.”

Madelyn especially values the hands-on training.

“We travel to plants, learn how products are made, meet the people making them, and present what we’ve learned,” she adds. “It’s invaluable; not many companies do that.”

Christine Chupp, accounting assistant

In a manner of speaking, if it weren’t for NIBCO, Christine wouldn’t have been born.

Her father, Roger Pittman, started working at NIBCO in 1955 as an apprentice tool and die maker, and he ended up meeting and marrying her mother, a fellow NIBCO associate who worked in purchasing.

Christine’s father was known for his technical expertise and was often called upon to help resolve complex equipment issues, traveling to plant locations across the country. His dedication and impact made a lasting impression on Christine, reinforcing her pride in contributing to the same organization.

“I came to work here after college because NIBCO was already part of my family,” she says. “Not only did my mom and dad work here, but my sister, brother and other family members, too.”

Over the years, nine of Christine’s family members have worked at NIBCO.

“So it just felt natural to work here,” Christine adds. “I wanted a good company where I could grow and build a career, and with everything I’d heard from my family, it was an easy decision.”

She began in customer service and over the years held positions in purchasing, risk management,  and ultimately finance, where she’s spent the majority of her tenure.

“I’ve had a great opportunity to learn about different parts of the business,” she says. “It’s given me a real understanding of how everything fits together. It also means something to me to work where my dad made such a positive impact. I feel proud to carry that on. And honestly, leadership here cares. That’s made a big difference.”

In particular, her dad always appreciated Ross Martin for his hands-on approach and genuine care for employees.

“My dad always said Ross really cared about his employees and displayed that by regularly walking the factory and talking to them. You can’t say that about a lot of companies.”

Christine appreciates how this culture of accessibility and respect has continued through the Martin family leadership.

Christine also emphasized the importance of relationships and the supportive, knowledgeable people she worked with as key factors in her long-term commitment. She values the culture of collaboration and mentorship that she encountered from the start.

“One of the big reasons I’ve stayed is the people — the relationships here are incredible,” she says. “Everyone is so friendly and willing to help me grow from day one. That sense of community has always stood out.”

Her sister, Cyndi Leamon, also had a notable career at NIBCO, serving as the director of continuous improvement and playing a key role in implementing Lean strategies and SAP technology. In 1998, NIBCO was the first company in the U.S. to successfully implement  a “big bang” approach with SAP R/3, which enabled the launch of several websites, advanced utilization of Electronic Data Interchange and Vendor Managed Inventory, as well as initiated NIBCOpartner.com, a customer self-service website. 

Ken McCoy, technical services manager

Ken’s 36-year connection to NIBCO began long before his first official day on the job. Like, when he was 10.

His father, a master pattern maker, moved the family to Elkhart, Indiana, in the late-1970s after NIBCO acquired the Kuhns Brothers Co. foundry in Dayton,Ohio. Ken’s father became the corporate pattern shop supervisor, creating the master patterns crucial to every NIBCO foundry operation across the country.

As a child, Ken often wandered the pattern shop’s floor. 

“If dad had a project, he’d take me with him on a Saturday,” Ken says. “While he was busy, I’d be wandering the place. By 10, I thought I had a good understanding of what went on at NIBCO.”

Ken officially joined NIBCO in 1985, working summers and holidays while attending college.

“I started out at the Goshen facility,” he says, which is a short drive from the company’s headquarters. “I did about every dirty job that nobody else wanted to do. Also, whenever, someone would take a week off, I’d learn that job to keep everything moving. I did almost every job you could do in the Goshen facility at that time.”

After earning a degree in comparative literature, Ken planned to pursue graduate school. But an offer to join NIBCO’s DARE Lab full-time was too good to pass up. DARE stands for Developmental and Applied Research Engineering — it’s NIBCO’s in-house R&D/product-testing lab where the company prototypes, tests and validates its products.

“I figured I’d do it for a year or two,” Ken adds. That was more than three decades ago.

“I came here by chance,” he says. “I stayed by choice.”

Ken spent 10 years as a DARE Lab technician before moving into engineering, specializing in codes and standards. From there, he found his true calling in technical services, eventually becoming manager of the department in 2007. Today, Ken oversees a team that handles customer inquiries, technical support, product training and warranty evaluations.

His leadership extends to the classroom, too. Ken has been a mainstay in NIBCO’s renowned Valve School program, which educates wholesalers, contractors and engineers on NIBCO products and industry best practices. 

“I especially love the teaching side of it,” he says. “I love getting in front of people and talking about our quality and what we do as a business to make sure we’re selling you the best.”

But for Ken, the job has never just been about flow control products. It’s about people. That was clear when his father suffered a heart attack while traveling for work. NIBCO immediately flew Ken’s mom, brother and sister to St. Louis on the company plane and paid for their return.

“That gesture cemented my loyalty,” Ken recalls. “It’s a great place to work, but it’s never been just a place to work.”