Lafayette candle company among top 20 best places to work nationally
LAFAYETTE, Ind. − Local candle business, Antique Candle Co., has been recognized on the Great Place to Work and Fortune magazine's 2022 Best Workplaces in Manufacturing & Production list.
2022 Best Workplaces list
Antique Candle Co. ranked 20th out of the 30 listed manufacturing businesses in the small and medium category.
According to Great Place to Work's qualifications and methodology of the list, "To determine the Best Workplaces in Manufacturing & Production list, Great Place to Work analyzed the survey responses of over 57,000 employees from Great Place to Work-Certified companies in the manufacturing and production industry.
"Our survey enables employees to share confidential quantitative and qualitative feedback about their organization’s culture by responding to 60 statements on a 5-point scale and answering two open-ended questions."
The full list of businesses on this year's list can be found online.
Antique Candle Co.
Antique Candle Co. was founded in Lafayette in 2014 and is located on the north end of the city, at 1611 Schuyler Ave.
This local business' main focus is of canning jar candles of varying sizes.
"(Our building is) an old dairy plant from the (1960s)," Meagan Thompson, human resources director for Antique Candle Co., said. "Our main line of products is our Mason jar candles. We have soy wax candles that come in a 16 ounce size, an eight ounce size and a two ounce size.
"And then we also have another sort of line of candles which is our antique candles. We do restocks two to three times a month on our website where we upload all new antique candles and sell those to our customers as well."
Making it on the list
In order to be considered for the 2022 Best Workplaces list, companies must be "Great Place to Work-Certified. During the certification process, according to Great Place to Work's website, "...we capture employee feedback and details about the programs and practices that make your workplace unique."
"We first got certified in 2021," Thompson said, "and then we were recertified in 2022 as a Great Place to Work. Based on that certification, Great Place to Work looks at survey responses from 57,000 current employees in manufacturing and production...And then are given a ranking based on those survey results."
Why has Antique Candle Co. made this list?
Thompson attributes part of employee satisfaction to the company's three core values: hard work, team work and community.
"I think a lot of it has to do with our employees," Thompson said. "We have really awesome employees. We like to say it's our candle crew. And they're always willing to go above and beyond our three core values.
"...So we really try to live those out everyday. We don't believe in the mentality of, 'Oh, that's not in my job description.' Everyone is always willing to help each other out. We work really hard but we also have a lot of fun."
Antique Candle Co. employs around 35 employees with additional seasonal hiring coming up.
What this honor means for Antique Candle Co.
Being selected as one of the 30 recognized companies across the country as one of the best places to work in manufacturing and production comes with great honor. Thompson reflected on what this recognition means for the company.
"We were so excited (and) honored," Thompson said. "Obviously, there are so many manufacturing and production companies across the U.S. And to be ranked No. 20, we were so honored (and) proud of our employees.
"We were honestly shocked. This is our second year being certified as a Great Place to Work and so to be listed among the best of the best was really awesome."
The future involves continuing to build benefits and culture at Antique Candle Co., according to Thompson, by using both the good and bad feedback from the survey responses.
Margaret Christopherson is a reporter for the Journal & Courier. Email her at mchristopherson@jconline.com and follow her on Twitter @MargaretJC2.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Lafayette candle company among top 20 best places to work nationally
