Focus on positive impact on community, staff

In its more than 25 years in business, Warwick-based Atrion Networking Corp. has learned the value of facilitating connections and collaboration for its clients. Those lessons have also served Atrion well when it comes to dealing with its most-prized asset: its staff.
According to CEO Tim Hebert, the guiding philosophy that moves Atrion forward is its commitment to one central purpose: “to have a positive impact.” This can be seen throughout the community, where it educates young women in science and technology fields through GRRL Tech, commits to hiring veterans of the military and gives time and resources to local nonprofits such as YearUp.
But Hebert said that, ultimately, having a positive impact begins with the 225 employees who make up Atrion’s workforce.
“We have a positive impact on our employee’s lives,” said Hebert. “So you’ll see us do a lot of things around training and development that no one in our industry is doing at all. We are 10 steps ahead of everyone else in terms of our apprenticeship programs and acceleration programs.”
Atrion is powered by the notion that fostering the ethos of advancement and leadership in each employee is paramount to the company’s success. Hebert said Atrion has “doubled its investment almost year after year” in employees via advancement programs.
An acceleration program started last year gives employees who have been with the company for three to four years – or outside of the company with some experience in the field – “a shot in the arm,” said Hebert. “It’s a 10-week intensive program that jump-starts their career. We move them to a higher responsibility level and a higher wage level in the IT industry.”
About 35 new employees have trained through the program, while 15 existing Atrion employees were given the chance to move onward and upward through the intensive skill-building process. Hebert also pointed to a second such program, the Leadership Challenge Workshop, which began about 2001. All Atrion employees are required to complete the program, which is, at minimum, a two-day workshop personally led by the CEO himself. In the workshop, Hebert discusses not only leadership in the workplace, but leadership in one’s day-to-day life.
“We realized for our organization to grow we needed to bring a higher level of leadership into the organization. We have the view that every person in our organization has the responsibility to be a leader. It doesn’t matter the title or tenure in the company,” he said.
Six years ago, Atrion began its extensive apprenticeship program, the first of its kind in the United States and in Rhode Island to be federally recognized as an official apprenticeship pathway for IT professionals. Since its inception, 50 individuals have moved through the program, which provides training and mentoring over a year. Hebert said those individuals have increased their average salary from $12-an-hour seasonal construction or lawn care gigs to $56,000 annually, with the highest graduate topping out at $90,000.
One of those employees is Angel Gavidia, who is celebrating his third year at Atrion. Before joining Atrion’s apprenticeship program, he was working towards his associate degree at the Community College of Rhode Island, where a then-classmate, now-colleague, told him about the opportunity. After the apprenticeship program, he began as a Level I support engineer offering basic troubleshooting, but has since been promoted to network associate engineer, working as a dedicated support engineer for one of Atrion’s largest clients.
“For me, working at Atrion has always been about constant growth of knowledge,” said Gavidia. “We’re constantly encountering new technologies, new concepts and new principals.” The team-centric atmosphere that Gavidia enjoys is no coincidence. Employees including Rachel Croce, who is in her sixth year with the company, work hard in the People Services Department to help make that happen. People Services is Atrion’s version of HR – a new spin on what, for many companies, seems to be treated like a dusty trope. Croce said that her work is diverse and interesting, and has grown along with the company.
“What Atrion really does a great job at is giving employees growth opportunities. It’s the differentiator that keeps me passionate day in and day out, six-plus years later. There’s no shortage of new and exciting projects and responsibilities to take on,” she said.
For Croce, one of those innovative responsibilities is to sit on an Employee Advisory Council created by Hebert, a working group meant to “keep a pulse on employee morale” and to think of “different creative initiatives to enhance [working at Atrion],” she said. The group’s signature innovation is the company’s “Oscars Night,” an annual awards celebration run by employees for employees at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet.
Of course, Atrion also offers all the requisite perks of the friendly tech company: flexible hours, a “spacious fun room” for Nintendo Wii and foosball breaks and a basketball court to encourage physical activity on breaks.
But for Hebert, creating an environment of true employee satisfaction goes deeper than modern conveniences. “To be able to live our purpose – to make a positive impact – as a CEO, I have to personally care about every single individual in my company. I personally have a responsibility to do everything in my power to better their lives,” he said.

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