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Home / Washington Business - April 2006 / Made in Washington: Wilbert Precast |
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Made in Washington: Wilbert Precast |
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Written On: April 2006 |
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Written By: by Daniel Brunell |
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Some of the greatest business opportunities are the ones we don't normally think about. A company that has been filling a little known but vital link in eastern Washington is Wilbert Precast, Inc. of Spokane. Wilbert Precast was founded as Schopf & Company in 1906 and manufactured burial vaults.
Wilbert Precast has always been a family business. "In 1905 my great grandfather John Schopf and his brother came from Indiana and started making concrete horse troughs, hitching post and burial vaults," said Dan Houk, president of Wilbert Precast, Inc. "By the time my dad bought the business in 1961, we were focused exclusively on burial vaults."
Over the last 100 years, the company has had various names. In 1961 the company was renamed Spokane Wilbert Vault Company, when they became part of the Wilbert burial vault franchise. Although the company produces nearly 4,000 burial vaults and related funeral products annually, there is much more to it. It has become a regional supplier of a wide variety of precast concrete products with manufacturing facilities in Lewiston, Idaho and Yakima in addition to Spokane.
The range of products Wilbert provides is very diverse. The company produces everything from septic tanks, oil/water separators, grease traps, catch basins, drywells, manholes, wall panels, steps, meter-and-valve utility vaults, parking bumpers to a broad variety of custom concrete castings. The newest addition to their product line is Redi-Rock, a system of large retaining walls, freestanding walls, pavers and columns.
This expansion in their product line could have not been timelier. Spokane is in the mist of a building boom. "The light went on in 2003," Houk said. "We were able to gear ourselves right by building a base to which we can grow." Grow indeed they have. In 2003, business was up by more than 33 percent. This growth continued into 2004 with 15 percent boost in business and in 2005 where the trend continued with a 17 percent increase in business from the previous year.
The massive need for septic tanks, storm water collection basins, manhole and lift stations are some of things that have lead in this uptake. It's these things we take for granted that Wilbert specializes in. With their craftsmanship and quality assurance, you won't ever have to think about it. And, Wilbert Precast is not just about the products it sells, it’s also about the people who make up the company.
"In addition to paying a wage that is above industry standard with a good holiday and paid-time-off program and other normal employee benefits," Houk said, "our real innovative benefits are medical and dental insurance packages that we have put together."
Wilbert Precast, like many employers, has battled rising health care costs. To negate this, Wilbert has worked cooperatively with their employees to lower health care costs. What the company’s program does is allow the employee to "bank" excess funds for future medical needs and then allows individuals and families decide how to spend their health care dollars.
Wilbert saves insurance costs by using a higher deductible insurance. The funds that are saved by this are automatically put into a Health Reimbursement Account for each employee to use for co-pays, deductibles, and all other health related expenses. This in itself is not new, but many companies are currently limiting the amount of roll-over in health care accounts.
Wilbert has taken the stance that if they are going to curb the amount of money people spend on medical expenses, their employees need to have more control over their spending decisions and give incentives to save dollars and not fall into the foolish mantra of "insurance will cover it." Every year, the money that isn't used in the account is rolled over with no limit. The better an employee manages his or her health care costs, the more that he or she will have in the long run for future health care needs. On top of this, Wilbert pays 100 percent of their employees’ premiums for health care and dental insurance.
"This is a win-win situation for Wilbert Precast and their employees," Houk said. "The employees do not have out-of-pocket any more than a regular $300 deductible program, even with someone with health issues that require ongoing expenditures."
Employees that remain healthy and do not require regular medical treatment can pocket up to $2,600 per year that accumulates until retirement. Although Wilbert Precast continues to receive 8 to15 percent increases in premiums, the cost of its program is half that of traditional insurance programs with low deductible and co-pays.
For this program and other innovative employee programs, Wilbert Precast received a 2006 Better Workplace Award for Innovative Benefits. The company doesn't do it for the awards, however. Wilbert Precast does it for their employees so the company can continue what it always does: Making sure that we have all the things we don't notice but couldn't live without.
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