Keeping employees old and new in the loop is a key part of making an acquisition work, according to Robert D. Rogers, vice president of School Health Corp.
School Health Corp., which markets medical supplies and equipment to schools, acquired Econoline Foam Products as part of a strategy to grow the company, Rogers said during a session at the annual Catalog conference in Boston.
One of the first priorities was to “adopt” the employees of the acquired firm and “help them adapt to the new company,” Rogers added, noting an effort was made to move employees from Econoline into School Health divisions and vice versa, to make everyone feel like they were part of the whole.
On an annual basis, Hanover Park, IL-based School Health mails 120,000 copies of a catalog versioned to target school nurses and 50,000 copies targeted to athletic trainers. The company also mails 25,000 12-page Econoline catalogs annually. Since the acquisition, Rogers said School Health has seen double digit sales growth annually and no attrition of employees.
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