Pride in product quality, staff

WORKING TOGETHER: A multinational corporation, Amgen Inc. promotes collaboration among its employees, including its 640 in West Warwick. Above, senior manufacturing associates Erik Claros and Michelle Dorgan at Amgen Inc. complete a steaming operation of the sample line of a bioreactor. / PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY
WORKING TOGETHER: A multinational corporation, Amgen Inc. promotes collaboration among its employees, including its 640 in West Warwick. Above, senior manufacturing associates Erik Claros and Michelle Dorgan at Amgen Inc. complete a steaming operation of the sample line of a bioreactor. / PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY

To Amgen Inc.’s Senior Manager for Manufacturing Jimmy Fleming, the task of ensuring that he and his team are producing a quality product is of the utmost importance – professionally and personally.

Fleming’s sister is one of the more than 300,000 consumers of Enbrel, Amgen’s innovative therapeutic drug approved to treat five diseases, including three forms of arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis and psoriasis.

Enbrel, which received approval to treat psoriatic arthritis in 2002, remains the only treatment approved to inhibit progression of joint destruction in this condition.

“Since I have a personal commitment, the job provides me with a lot of pride. I’m also surrounded by an amazing team from a wide diversity of backgrounds who help me get the job done every day,” Fleming said. “It’s not a straightforward operation; it requires an army and we have a strong collaboration that has a sheer commitment to providing a safe, reliable product.”

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Collaboration amongst employees, the pride that comes with helping people and the opportunity to learn from colleagues who come from a variety of professional backgrounds are all reasons Amgen Inc. took first place in this year’s Best Places to Work Awards in the Enterprise Employer category for 500 or more employees.

Amgen (formerly Applied Molecular Genetics Inc.) was established in California in 1980. Thirty-five years later, Amgen is a multinational corporation and the world’s largest independent biotechnology firm. Amgen established a presence in Rhode Island in 2002, opening a manufacturing facility in West Greenwich that today employs 640 people.

Fleming has been with Amgen for 12 years, the entire length of his professional career. Having just completed his undergraduate studies in international engineering at the University of Rhode Island, he was drawn to the company’s stellar reputation.

He began at Amgen as a floor manufacturing operator and was considering switching career paths to engineering at another firm when the company’s Rhode Island leadership team coached him into pursuing a management role with the company. With the company’s tuition-reimbursement policy, he has earned a master’s of science in clinical laboratory science from URI and an MBA from Babson College in Wellesley, Mass.

Fleming said opportunities for professional and personal development are among the things that have kept him with the company.

“What I like best about my job is the people I’m surrounded by,” he said. “We perform at an incredibly high level because of the individuals who are here.”

To retain its diverse employment, Amgen offers affinity groups organized to promote opportunities for growth, networking and leveraging of talent.

The company’s Rhode Island leadership team keeps that team culture in place with frequent site celebrations that, Fleming said, lets employees know their work is appreciated.

In addition, there are recreation leagues and community-service projects that promote unity.

Some of these, said Ran Zheng, executive director and plant manager, are staff initiated.

“I think people here are really bonded together through our common interest and those kinds of activities are a critical element to help people really collaborate,” Zheng said.

Serving that mission is what attracted Zheng to the company about 12 years ago, she said. In her role, she is responsible for leading the West Greenwich site.

“The motivation for me is that Amgen is a fantastic, innovative company with a great vision to continue improvements and innovation and better serve our customers’ needs,” she said. “The company has a culture that is very dedicated to our customers. People here orient themselves along that mission.”

Amgen also is dedicated to its employees. Among the stand-out benefits are two weeklong holiday plant shutdowns in July and in December that are given in addition to accrued time off.

Employees also have access to a free on–site fitness center and complimentary nutrition and wellness programs.

In addition to annual merit-based salary increases, the company offers performance bonuses.

“Amgen’s very comprehensive compensation program is designed to reward people for their effort and performance,” Zheng said. “People here are engaged and value the institution. What I like most is that the work I am doing is extremely meaningful. Every day I am helping people.” •

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