Timber Technologies launches Community Enrichment Program

By LeAnn R. Ralph

COLFAX — It’s the best of both worlds.

Timber Technologies will supply the labor, and community members will suggest projects. Timber Tech will have a way to give back to the community along with a way to promote a more positive work culture and encourage employees to be part of the community — and Colfax will get some projects done.

Dale Schiferl, co-owner of Timber Technologies, spoke to the Colfax Village Board at the August 14 meeting about the Timber Tech Community Enrichment Program and also stopped to pay a visit at the Colfax Messenger.

“We always try to stay up to speed as to what certain corporations are doing to improve the culture within their businesses and how we can better improve our culture,” Schiferl said.

“We have some managers who worked for Cummins (Infiltration) out of Neillsville, and our operations manager was a manager over there. He mentioned that they do this. I don’t know what they call it, but it’s a specific program where they get their employees to spend x number of hours per month in the community working, and it’s mandatory. They would put on their Cummins shirts, and they’d go out and paint. And I thought, ‘that’s great!’” he said.

And so began the idea for the Timber Technologies Community Enrichment Program.

“It’s a good opportunity to create a good image within your community. People don’t want to come and just punch the clock anymore. There’s more to work. There’s more to having a satisfying work and career life outside of home. They want to make sure they are contributing to their community in some way. It makes us feel good too,” Schiferl said.

“For Tom and I, our ‘easy solution’ is why don’t we just budget a certain amount every year. We get a fair number of walk-ins anyway. We budget a certain number of dollars every year to this program, and then we pick the employees to be part of the committee, and they can decide how we spend the money. And that’s how we came to the village board. We are looking for ideas,” he said.

Tom is Tom Niska, the other co-owner of Timber Technologies.

Schiferl’s mention of “walk-ins” refers to what every business in Colfax experiences: a number of people walking in off the street, looking for a donation for various causes and activities.

Ideas for the Community Enrichment Program could range from painting fire hydrants to cleaning parks to building picnic tables and benches to a new warming shed for the skating rink to signs that mark the walking trail along Eighteen Mile Creek.

Employees

The Timber Technologies Community Enrichment Program committee will be made up of several Timber Tech employees.

Schiferl said he plans to explain the concept to the committee and then step out of the way and let the committee decide how to spend the money and which projects to complete.

The projects completed during the Timber Tech Community Enrichment Program will be done during regular business hours, and Timber Tech will pay their employees to work on the projects.

Projects will be scheduled for completion in the fall and in the spring.

“We are empowering our own people to be part of the community,” Schiferl said.

Part of the impetus for launching the Timber Tech Community Enrichment Program also involves the labor shortage in the Chippewa Valley.

“We have experienced the same issues as a lot of manufacturers in the Chippewa Valley, which is you cannot find good labor, good help. The labor market is tough right now. Between Menards and Fleet Farm and Hutchinson looking for people, we are having a real tough time attracting quality employees,” Schiferl said.

The Community Enrichment Program would be part of the “value added” aspect to working at Timber Tech.

“Let’s say you have two young workers who are great workers, but they work on opposite sides of the building. Let’s say you can get them to go to break together, schedule their breaks together, or say, we need you guys to take three hours and go pick up the park. They will develop more of a relationship than just punching the clock,” Schiferl said.

“I remember when I was a young man, working and punching the clock, it was all about if I had people working there I liked. It made it so much more fun. This is part of that too, to help build rapport outside of business hours,” he said.

Over the years, Timber Technologies has added more automation, not as a way to eliminate workers but as a way to attract different kinds of workers.

“We have not eliminated jobs, but we have made jobs easier. So now we can get somebody who is 45 with a family to run an interface on a computer screen, versus having somebody who is 20 years old, doing hard, manual labor all day,” Schiferl said.

Blessed

As it turns out, Colfax has been an extremely good fit for Timber Technologies.

“We’ve been blessed. Colfax has been a good community for us. It was a wise decision to put our roots down here,” he said.

“Colfax had the building, and that really helped us get started. The Chippewa Valley, the Menomonie area was attractive, because we knew the market was good for our products and (Colfax) was nicely, centrally located for the markets we serve,” Schiferl said.

Timber Technologies manufactures structural timber products for post-frame and pole barn construction.

Any community member — or a group within the community  — who has a suggestion for a project is encouraged to the put the idea in writing and submit it to Timber Technologies at 106 Bremer Avenue in Colfax.

Bobbi Scheel, the office manager at Timber Tech, is a member of the Community Enrichment Program committee.

“She is on the committee, so as people walk in the door, she will be able to help with that,” Schiferl said.