Rogers Corporation: A History of Perseverance and Determination

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Rogers Corporation President and CEO Bruce Hoechner recently issued an updated statement regarding Rogers Corporation and their response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

While the pandemic continues to test our mettle, I’m pleased to report that Rogers employees are a determined team. Together, we are exhibiting the best of Rogers, doing what needs to be done to protect each other and serve our customers. The following are several examples:

• At the height of the outbreak on the East Coast, a sales engineer in Connecticut donned protective gear to spend two days on our customer’s manufacturing floor, hand-sorting gaskets for use in ventilators manufactured by a major U.S. auto manufacturer.
  
  
• In January, an engineer in Arizona recognized the gravity of the COVID-19 outbreak and the likelihood that it would spread globally. He took it upon himself to order a case of N95 masks, at his own expense, to protect his colleagues and family during the onset of the virus in the U.S.
  
  
• In China, select employees worked through the Lunar New Year and Spring Festival celebration, taking on additional responsibilities for colleagues who were quarantined.

This perseverance is a trait that has been a part of Rogers’ DNA for nearly two centuries. In 1832, Peter Rogers established his eponymous paper company in a two-story powder mill in Manchester, Connecticut. At the time, the U.S. and Europe were in the midst of a cholera epidemic. Since then, Rogers Corporation has seen the American Civil War, the Spanish Flu, two World Wars, regional conflicts, major revolutions, the Great Depression and much, much more. Through it all, we have demonstrated our ability to weather global challenges and emerge stronger. I invite you to celebrate Rogers’ history by visiting our recently launched interactive timeline.

Now we are preparing for our Europe and U.S. remote staff to eventually return to our offices. Our plans for the office environment are very conservative, and our return will occur in phases. Visitor restrictions to our facilities will continue and international travel, while allowed, is extremely limited.

Our manufacturing employees have been in our plants throughout the pandemic and have done a great job of adapting to our COVID-19 safety protocols. To date, we have not experienced any major supply chain disruptions and continue to be an essential manufacturer serving critical industries.

As we look forward, we will continue to prioritize employee health while maintaining business continuity. Our focus is on Rogers’ long-term success and ensuring we emerge from this crisis prepared to capture the opportunities we believe lie ahead.

We have watched with tremendous sadness as the events of recent weeks have shaken the U.S. As an international company, Rogers has always celebrated the diversity of our workforce. We want everyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, class, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation or background to feel safe – physically and emotionally – coming to work. I have asked our supervisors and managers to make it a point to check-in on their colleagues and support any needs their team may have during this turbulent time.

I want to thank our determined and dedicated Rogers teams across the globe. Despite the uncertainty brought by the coronavirus pandemic, they have remained focused and steadfast to help the company deliver results. I also want to recognize our customers for their loyalty, our suppliers for their partnership and local authorities for their guidance and insight.

Please, stay safe and stay healthy.

Bruce Hoechner, President and CEO, Rogers Corporation