Business for a Better World: Norix Group Inc.
Norix Group Inc.
One Innovation Drive, West Chicago
(630) 231-1331
www.norix.com
Industry: Specialty furnishings
Number of employees: 115
Q: Describe your company.
A: For over 35 years, Norix has been designing innovative, robust furniture that meets the real-world need for humanizing challenging environments. Our specially designed, intensive-use furniture is engineered to provide safety, security and extreme durability. We serve a variety of environments, including behavioral health care, justice, transitional housing, commercial, education and fire & rescue.
We offer products that are proudly made in the USA at our new LEED Gold certified headquarters, and many are recyclable, are made from recycled content and have earned GreenGuard Gold Certification. With a wide variety of color options and fabric styles to choose from, we make it easy to find the perfect furniture solution for any facility.
Q: Do you plan to hire any additional staff or make any significant capital investments in your company in the next year?
A: The completion of our new LEED Gold certified headquarters has allowed us to drastically increase our manufacturing capabilities and hire 62 new employees since 2021. Our intentions are to increase this number to 150 by the end of 2023. Those interested in joining the Norix team can apply today at https://norix.com/about-us/careers/
Q: What will your company's main challenges be in the next year?
A: We continue to see substantial growth in mental health awareness and in the demand for well-designed spaces that address the unique needs of both residents and staff. With this comes an influx of new competition - some of which will offer cheap, cost-driven options that don't comply with our safety standards and are not suited to withstand the unique rigors of behavioral health care environments.
Our main challenge next year will be highlighting our differentiators to potential customers in a way that allows them to make an informed decision on how to sustainably furnish their facility safely and securely.
Q: What's the hottest trend in your industry?
A: The hottest trend in our industry right now is the design and implementation of outdoor spaces. The pandemic has literally and figuratively opened the door for the utilization of outdoor spaces in behavioral health care facilities, multifamily homes and even in corporate environments. Although this movement may seem new for those outside the industry, this shift toward outdoor spaces is an extension of a historical trend toward increasingly humanized spaces - a trend we've been driving for years.
Q: Does climate change affect how your company does business?
A: At Norix, we recognize climate change as an existential threat that can have long-term impacts on our people and our business operations. That's why we've taken extreme measures to expand upon our commitment to environmental sustainability. Our new LEED Gold certified headquarters is at the forefront of that commitment, embodying the company culture and standing as an illustration of our core values.
Q: What does your company do to reduce the effects of climate change?
A: Our headquarters is built on 22 acres of preserved prairie land with native landscaping. About 90% of the electricity for the building comes from renewable energy sources, including 3,444 rooftop photovoltaic solar panels and 22-foot solar tress. Naturalized swales convey stormwater to the biofiltration rain gardens, recharging groundwater and reducing the impact on the city stormwater system.
Q: What does your company do regarding DE&I (diversity, equity & inclusion)?
A: At Norix, we are committed to fostering a community where people of all backgrounds, ethnicities, genders and sexual orientations feel welcomed and supported.
Q: Does your company donate time or money to any philanthropic causes? If so, what causes?
A: The Norix Gives program allows Norix employees to propose an organization, cause or facility that they feel would benefit from a charitable donation. A new charity is chosen each month based on three pillars: our community, our people and our markets. Some examples of charities/organizations that Norix has donated to in the past include: Monmouth Museum (Product Donation); Help Hope Live (Cash Donation); Niger Air Force Base (Cash Donation).
Q: Does your company do anything else to make your community better?
A: Norix staff and representatives recently volunteered at the Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - donating furniture to revamp the fourth-floor residential hall and helping to replace the flooring, ceiling, window treatments, lighting and painting.
In addition to our charity work, every holiday season Norix employees generously sponsor 3-4 families in need by purchasing holiday gifts and wrapping them. The Norix Gives program supplements that effort with gift cards for the families.
Q: What do you do to make your business a good place to work for your employees?
A: Our headquarters features a smart cafeteria, a fitness center, a full outdoor soccer field and a pickleball court. We will frequently hold events like outdoor barbecues, ice cream socials and chili cook offs.
Q: Do you have a business mantra?
A: At Norix, we design innovative, robust furniture that meets the real world need for humanizing challenging environments.
Q: What is one interesting fact about your company that most people may not know?
A: Norix name is a nod to the family's ancestral home in Regensburg, Germany. Folklore says Regensburg was founded by Norix, the son of Hercules, more than 6,000 years ago.
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