Lunch at Semco
Lunchtime with Graphite Engineers
Here’s a riddle: what do graphite engineers talk about over lunch?
Need another minute?
Ok, we’ll give you the answer: graphite engineering! Well, that’s at least one of the answers. The most important part of that riddle is the fact that in a graphite shop, the employees enjoy their lunch together -- at least they do at Semco. Lunch at Semco is a time when the crew has a chance to enjoy a meal, discuss current shop projects, review the daily news, and swap family stories. While COVID has changed the dynamic in the lunchroom to some degree (we’re a bit more spread out now -- social distancing and all), our Semco team still finds ways to communicate and build relationships that are about more than graphite manufacturing.
Semco’s lunch culture has been shaped by both management and shop floor employees. On the one hand, Semco’s graphite manufacturing facility in Lorain, Ohio includes a lunchroom large enough to accommodate everybody in the company, even with COVID restrictions in place. Management had the foresight when designing our current facility to create a space that would help encourage a healthy company culture of friendship and communication. The other employees, for their part, have bought into that vision and enjoy lunch together daily rather than driving off to lunch by themselves.
Some updates have been made over the years: the TV in the lunchroom, for instance, is an appreciated addition. Some days, the concentration required to do excellent graphite manufacturing work means you just need to turn a movie on during lunch. This stress-relieving activity is a favorite pastime the crew occasionally enjoys. Once a month, on a Wednesday, the company provides its employees a paid lunch, sourced from our nearby restaurants. On these days, the lunch break is extended and everyone gets a chance to catch up with each other and maybe talk to folks in other departments whom they don’t see every day. The employees choose the restaurants, and lately Chipotle seems to be the favourite, but the local farmers’ market offers some great reuben sandwiches. Regardless of the meal, this is just a small gesture on Semco’s part to thank the crew for another great month.
A mark of the team atmosphere we’ve all worked so hard to establish at Semco is what often happens at the end of the work week. It was not long ago (pre COVID) that you could walk into the local diner or pub on a Friday and find nearly everyone in the company enjoying a burger and a beverage together. Our crew is really tight, and that camaraderie is the driving force for the success of our company. We are a graphite manufacturing company, but we are also a team that works together, helps each other, and enjoys each other's company. This is the Semco team.