Company Background:
It was in 1973 when Ted Benson, CEO of Bensonwood started his construction company in Alstead, New Hampshire to provide timber frames for homes. Over the years Bensonwood expanded their Alstead facility to 10,000 square feet and employed 60.
In 2000 Bensonwood moved out of the Alstead facility and moved their operations to Walpole, NH. Since then Bensonwood has grown to 142 employees who are spread out over 3 facilities: a 110,000 square foot facility in Keene, NH, and 2 – 10,000 square foot facilities in Walpole, NH.
Today Bensonwood provides about 40% of the building’s construction. About 80% are residential homes and about 20% are commercial buildings. Bensonwood is a full design-build firm with architecture, engineering, project management, and construction services all in house.
Situation:
“About 13 years ago we started a brand called Unity Homes,” said Emily Benson, Employee Success Officer for Bensonwood. “This was a modest sized standardized home platform where customers could make some modifications. We felt we could really scale up that platform and bring it in at a lower price point.”
However, the Unity Homes brand eventually hit a plateau and was not growing as fast as it should have. “We knew we were working in silos. So we restructured the management team to focus more heavily on this brand,” said Emily Benson. “But even with the new executive team in place, we knew they would need a fair amount of leadership training.”
Solution:
Bensonwood had used NH MEP in the past for Lean Training. So they reached out to NH MEP and found out about their Leadership Training Program for the manufacturing environment. They soon signed up for NH MEP’s Leadership Training Program.
The Leadership Training Program for Bensonwood consisted of the design and delivery of 3 workshops for company officers, and 3 workshops for directors, all spaced out one to two weeks apart. The workshops allowed work to take place in the morning, with one-on-one reviews of personal action plans and commitments performed during the afternoon. Then there were 2 days of design and development, and 6 total days on site. Each workshop contained personal and group action plans whose progress was reviewed at the beginning of each session. Participants teamed up with a buddy to help support each other as new behaviors and practices were tried out.
Results:
“The company has been growing, and we have added a second shift,” said Emily Benson. “We now operate as a true manufacturing company with manufacturing leadership. This has had a huge impact on the growth and success of Bensonwood.”
The following results for Bensonwood can be credited to having gone through NH MEP’s Leadership Training:
- $1,000,000 in new sales over the last 12 months
- Created 20 jobs over the past 12 months
- Increased investment of $500,000 in new products or processes over the last 12 months
- Increased investment of $60,000 in workforce practices or employee skills over the last 12 months
“NH MEP’s leadership training has been a game changer for Bensonwood. Their customized approach helped us strengthen our management team, improve communication, and align around shared goals. The sessions were engaging, practical, and immediately impactful. We continue to use NH MEP for our training needs and truly value their partnership in supporting our growth and success.”
