GREENE — Most companies celebrate major anniversaries with champagne and balloons. Raymond Corp. doesn’t have time to celebrate its 90th birthday. The business has doubled its production since 2009 and has added 500 employees in its U.S. operations since 2010 just to keep up with demand.

With headquarters in Greene, Raymond says it’s the North American leader in manufacturing electric lift trucks. The company builds a full line of manual and electric models that include counterbalanced, stacker, narrow-aisle, reach-fork, order-picker, and pallet trucks. In addition, Raymond produces the “iWarehouse” management system, an integrated suite of software tools to monitor in real-time both truck and operator performance.

“In order to ship 50 to 60 trucks a day to our customers, we need to receive 140,000 pounds of steel daily,” says John A. Sassani, a human-resources manager with Raymond, who guided this reporter on a tour of the Greene factory. “The plant operates five days a week with one shift in assembly, two in welding, and three in fabrication,” Sassani adds. Raymond builds most of its trucks to order and exports about 10 percent of its products.

“The Greene facility currently employs 1,250 and a sister plant in Muscatine, Iowa employs another 200 workers, engaged in welding and assembly. Raymond also has a small facility in Dalian China that employs 30, and a sales, service, and parts-distribution center in Syracuse with 180 employees,” says Stephen E. VanNostrand, vice president for human resources. Raymond also has a sales and service network of 33 dealers in 105 locations around the world and holds an equity position in most.

VanNostrand says, “Raymond owns 750,000 to 800,000 square feet of office and manufacturing space in the U.S. and rents warehousing space in Syracuse.”

When asked what contributes to Raymond’s explosive growth, VanNostrand points first to “… the focus on research and engineering. We have 140 people just in the R&D group who not only work to improve our current products, but also have spent the last 10 years developing commercial fuel cells … Raymond has an engineering, co-op internship program with area schools like Clarkson, SUNY Binghamton, Cornell, RIT, and the University of Rochester.” Since 2004, Raymond has been awarded 42 patents, another example of its emphasis on innovation.

Raymond conducts a nationwide search for professional positions, “… but we [also] are creative in finding production talent. For example, we convinced a welder from New York City to join us, and he, in turn, convinced others to follow. The company offers competitive compensation and a generous tuition-reimbursement program,” VanNostrand says. But he adds that “… it’s a challenge sometimes to convince prospective employees to move to Greene unless they have ties to the region or they are already familiar with it.” VanNostrand also points to an extensive training program, a laser focus on quality, and low employee turnover as reasons for the company’s explosive growth.

The Greene facility faces other challenges, particularly with infrastructure and energy. Raymond has convinced transportation officials to improve road access to the plant in order to accommodate the heavy flow of truck traffic, and work is currently under way to widen and strengthen the Route 12 highway that leads to the Greene facility. The Greene plant is fortunate in having a locally owned municipal company that supplies electricity at reasonable rates “… but the nearest [natural] gas line is nine miles away,” bemoans VanNostrand. Raymond has already spent a couple years negotiating to bring a gas line to the plant, and it remains a priority for the company.

Raymond supplies lift trucks worldwide, including area customers such as the Foodbanks of Central New York and the Southern Tier, Price Chopper, Willow Run, Manth-Brownell, Olum’s, Maines Paper & Food Service, East Coast Warehouse & Distribution, and Sovena. 

Raymond’s major lift-truck supplier competitors include Crown Equipment, NACCO Industries (which makes Hyster and Yale trucks), and Nissan Forklift.

George Raymond, Sr. founded the company in 1922, when he bought the Lyon Iron Works in the village of Greene. Raymond, an efficiency engineer, focused on the material-handling industry. The company went public in May 1956 and Raymond’s son, George Raymond, Jr., became president and CEO in 1959. Raymond opened its center in Syracuse in 1980. BT Industries of Sweden bought the firm in 1997, and in turn, was bought in 2001 by Toyota Industries Corp., a Japan–based company that generates $19 billion in annual revenue.

It may be a while before Raymond can find the time to celebrate its anniversary. The company is focused on “… improving our market position, which means a larger market share. We have an aggressive growth plan based on an international strategy, and our goal is to remain the market leader,” says VanNostrand.