_____________________________________________________________________________________ Hubbardton
Forge
“ Of course it was a difficult transition ,” agrees Louis , “ with all of the changes that we had to adjust to , but I almost think it brought us closer together as a group . Design , engineering , production , and sales , we ’ re obviously all under one roof here . However , from a development point of view , I really feel like those internal relationships have become even stronger over the past couple of years .”
Hubbardton has recently created three new custom finishes that have proven to be incredibly popular among its clientele , but they have not come without a new set of challenges . “ On the eco-friendly side ,” Louis explains , “ these new finishes enable us to replicate the plated approach that is more common overseas , without having the detrimental impact on the environment . Ours are chrome-based , which is all powder coated , and through working with our partners and vendors , we ’ ve succeeded in keeping the presence of triglycerides to a minimum , during both the spraying and baking steps . Our emissions are very low , as the products are essentially going through a curing process .”
Community focus
Besides this , Hubbardton has already transformed its in-house lighting to LED solutions , worked on reducing its fossil fuel dependency , and taken steps towards more environmentally friendly packaging options . Furthermore , the company also possesses a centrifuge and water treatment process , which enables it to pass wastewater onto the local town ’ s facility without any chemicals or physical waste .
“ As most of our competitors are based overseas , it ’ s hard to say where their priorities lie in terms of sustainability ,” Steve adds . “ But for us , as an enterprise producing domestically in the US , we feel a deeper level of responsibility for our local community , and the overall state of Vermont . It ’ s something that our employees and customers value , so we ultimately care very strongly about it . We want to be a leader in the area , and packaging is an area that we ’ re continually searching for advancements in . It ’ s not an easy one , but an opportunity we ’ re really excited about .
“ Our culture of innovation is wholly inclusive of all of our departments , it ’ s a real collaborative effort between the sales , design and engineering teams . The former two work together to identify what the current trends are and what the market is looking for , and the latter will then produce samples of different looks and styles based purely off the conversation . This is typically followed by a back and forth to fine tune all the details , so we can fully explore how we can create a specific look in-house , in an environmentally friendly way .”
This ‘ it takes a village ’ approach extends farther than the company ’ s walls , as Hubbardton also puts a great deal of emphasis on its ties and presence in its local communities . “ A key area of our focus
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