Printing business focuses on employee safety

Steinhauser takes its responsibility of being an essential business during the pandemic seriously. Based in Newport, the company makes labels for consumer-packaged goods for retailers such as Kroger.

“We were blessed because we got to stay open,” CEO and owner Tara Halpin said. “So that also created a challenge because we had people working very closely together. … People react to things like this differently, so we had to make sure that everybody knew that it was OK to be scared. It was OK to be uncertain.”

To maintain employee safety, Steinhauser worked with family members and industry suppliers to obtain masks for every worker when masks were difficult to find, including hand-sewn ones. Despite its small size (fewer than 50 employees), the company offered Family Medical and Leave Act benefits for workers who were ill or home with children. It shut down its plant to outsiders.

Steinhauser created signs to ensure that workers stayed six feet apart. It made work-from-home schedules for employees who do not work on the floor of its plant. The company rearranged workspaces to ensure safety. Its human resources manager kept the company informed about safety procedures and mandates from the state.

The company provided numerous meals for its employees, coming from local businesses who needed support. Halpin personally honored workers’ family members who were graduating seniors. She even delivered food to employees’ homes.

Reaching out to the community, Steinhauser offered free labels to local distilleries for hand-sanitizer manufacturing. Steinhauser operated a marketing campaign for small business customers, especially those in the food and beverage industries. Press operators started a fundraiser that the company matched to buy food for first responders at a Newport fire station.

Steinhauser’s actions paid off. Sales increased more than a 50 percent in the first quarter compared to last year. It gave each worker a $1,200 bonus in late spring for their hard work and effort to stay healthy. Halpin said the company will have an all-time high record year in sales for 2020.

“I think everybody from the very beginning has felt very safe here. … Everybody is following the rules. Everybody is masking,” she said. “Everybody’s staying apart and we’re trying to just keep our culture as strong as we can in the middle of a pandemic.”

Halpin said during this time small business owners need to be present and talk their employees every day that it is possible whether that communication is in-person, on the phone, or via Zoom.

“You just have to make sure you stay connected to your people and that they understand that you care and you’re here to do whatever you can for them,” she said.

Featured image at top: Owner and CEO Tara Halpin, Steinhauser, created a safe and caring work environment for her team, resulting in a big impact for the community, and increased sales for the company.

Steinhauser is a Goering Center core member, and the Goering Center is sharing this content as part of its Business Courier supplement for the 2020 Family & Private Business Awards. View more of the digital supplement here.