In Silicon Valley, where the next new thing is always around the corner, only a handful of companies have made it to 100 years old. Now, San Jose-based electrical contractor Rosendin has achieved that rare milestone, and CEO Tom Sorley says the secret isn’t a tough one to figure out.
“It all starts with people. Our employees care about each other and our customers,” said Sorely, who joined the company in 1989. “The foundation of our organization — going back to Moses Rosendin — has always been about people.”
When Moses Rosendin founded the Rosendin Electric Motor Works on Race Street in 1919, its primary job was wiring the irrigation pumps that fed water to the Valley of Heart’s Delight. Growth was slow but steady in the early days, wiring homes and businesses as well as servicing utility poles in a valley that was starting to grow quickly. Ray and Lou Rosendin took over the family business in the early 1950s when the company had fewer than 100 employees.
Today, Rosendin has nearly 6,000 employees — it’s been entirely employee-owned since 2000 — and has offices as far away as Virginia and Baltimore. Revenue grew, too, from about $80 million a year in 1992 to nearly $2 billion annually now. The company does a lot more than wiring now, too, expanding into design-build engineering and renewable energy.
The company had a big celebration on Wednesday for employees at its current San Jose headquarters on Mabury Road, where it unveiled a restored 1919 Ford Model T truck, probably very much like the ones that Moses Rosendin used as he set out to the vast orchards around the valley. It’ll travel — not on its own steam — to Rosendin’s offices around the country during the year.
Also as part of the centennial, the company’s executive committee — Sorley, President and COO Larry Beltramo and Executive Vice President Jim Hawk — announced that Rosendin Electric would be just Rosendin going forward to reflect the changes in its business. But, even though no member of the founding Rosendin family remains with the company, there are no plans to drop that name.
“We’re proud of the Rosendin family and we’re proud of our history,” Sorley said. “There’s no reason to change it.”
MARCHING ARTFULLY: The third annual Women’s March is taking place nationwide Jan. 19, but the San Jose Museum of Art has another march for women’s rights a week earlier. The Jan. 12 procession is part of “Creative Minds: Suffragette City,” an installation by artist Lara Schnitger that celebrates female empowerment.
The artistic protest march will start at the Museum of Art at 10 a.m., with costumed participants chanting and parading with Schnitger’s portable sculptures and banners, which are currently on display at the museum. The walk is open to all genders and ages, and if you’re interested in volunteering to participate in the performance part, go to www.sjmusart.org/suffragettecity for details.
Schnitger’s Suffragette City has been performed in New York, Basel, Dresden, Los Angeles and Berlin, as well as at last year’s Women’s March in Washington, D.C. You can watch videos of previous Suffragette City marches at vimeo.com/246442110.
HOLIDAY SURPRISE: When Patrick Hammon decided to propose marriage to Courtney Meadows, his girlfriend of five years, he knew the perfect place to do it. And as a board member of Christmas in the Park, he was in a perfect position to pull it off.
So on Christmas Eve, he brought her inside Christmas in the Park’s 55-foot community tree for a special tour and popped the question. While many people have become engaged at the downtown San Jose holiday attraction — and one couple actually got married there a couple of years ago — they were the first to do so inside the tree.
“We both have been going to Christmas in the Park since we were kids, so I thought what better place to do it,” said Hammon, an attorney with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in Palo Alto. No wedding date has been set yet, but it sounds like a Christmas ceremony wouldn’t be out of the question.
COMING SOON TO OUR GALAXY: Symphony Silicon Valley has had a great response to its “Movies in Concert” series, which has featured “The Godfather,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and most recently the first four films in the “Harry Potter” series. But Symphony President Andrew Bales says that “Star Wars” has been a frequent request — and if you’re one of those who asked for it, your wish is coming true this March.
“Star Wars: A New Hope,” the 1977 original known better as “Star Wars” to anyone over 30, will be presented four times March 29-31 at the Center for the Performing Arts. The Symphony Silicon Valley orchestra will perform John Williams’ Oscar-winning score live as the movie is shown on a giant screen behind them. Tickets are available at www.symphonysiliconvalley.org.
