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On September 4 at 4 a.m., a small team of Strategic team members departed from the office for a trip across the country to visit CHUTES International headquarters. Rick Hilgert, Principal, Julio Lopez, Service Supervisor, Jamie Kawamura, Certified Trainer, and Jose De La Rosa, Maintenance ServiceTech, landed in Waldorf, Maryland for the purpose of an in-depth experiential training with CHUTES International.
During the trip, the Strategic team worked closely with the CHUTES International core team, comprised of:
- James Fournier, Sales and Product Development
- Ben Hosier, Tech and Sales Support
- Rick Wood, Product Design and Engineering
- Darren Harp, Educator
- Jennifer Scharff, Team Leader
The three days in Waldorf included discussions, lectures and facility tours. CHUTES showed the Strategic team the latest in their product design, helping us to add additional trash chute and compactor expertise to our services. The trip also allowed Strategic and CHUTES to solidify a mutually beneficial relationship between the companies. The Strategic team was not only kindly shown around CHUTES facilities, they were also cordially hosted during the “off” hours of the evening. During the visit, several long dinners resulted in shared stories, laughter and conversation. It’s clear that the warmth of CHUTES can be credited to the owner of the company. Rick Hilgert says, “Mr. Hadi Boustani has developed a culture of generosity and hospitality that permeates throughout the company.” Strategic returned with many stories to share about the generosity of CHUTES.
In the past year, Strategic and CHUTES International have established what is proving to be a fruitful partnership, hoping to exchange insights about products, services and company culture with each other. Rick Hilgert commented about the time spent with CHUTES, “I really enjoyed each person I met…. This time afforded us the opportunity to get to know many of the Chutes team on a much more personal level and get a real feel for the culture of the organization.” We have thoroughly enjoyed sharing resources with CHUTES International and deeply appreciate the information and hospitality shown to our team during this visit. We look forward to returning the favor in the near future!
