Category: Company News

IDEX Fire & Safety business units Akron Brass and Hale recently partnered with the Fire Apparatus Manufacturers’ Association (FAMA) to sponsor a scholarship for college students in Fire Protection Engineering and Administration programs.

The 2022 Scholarship winner, majoring in Fire Protection Engineering with a minor in civil engineering, was University of New Haven student Andrew Tivadar. Dedicated to protecting the citizens of his hometown, Tivadar is an active member of the Long Hill Fire Department in Trumbull, Connecticut (USA). Tivadar joined the department in December 2017 and now holds the following certifications: Fire I, Fire II, Aerial Operator, and Hazmat Awareness and Operations. He is a Driver/Engineer for the engine and the rescue truck at his station. Recently, Tivadar received the Chief’s Award for Outstanding Dedication to the department and currently serves on their Board of Directors.

To pay for his education, Tivadar currently works as both a small engine mechanic and as a fire protection consultant while maintaining his position on the Dean’s List.

“As leaders in innovative fire suppression products for more than 100 years, we value the importance of education and its role in leading the next generation in shaping the future of the fire and rescue service. Akron Brass and Hale Products are honored to continue our partnership with FAMA and the Phillip L Turner scholarship program. We are thrilled to recognize Andrew Tivadar as this year’s scholarship recipient,” said Brian Houk, Vice President, IDEX Fire & Safety.

Named in honor of Phillip L. Turner, the scholarship was created in 2007 shortly after Philip passed away while serving as President for FAMA. Philip was a major advocate for education and contributed as chairman of FAMA’s Meeting Planning Committee (1998–2004), member of the Board of Directors, secretary and Vice President.

The Phillip L. Turner Scholarship is awarded annually by FAMA and has been sponsored by the Akron Brass Company since 2009.

IDEX employees worldwide rose up and met the IDEX Foundation challenge, addressing food insecurity in their communities by collecting and donating a combined total of 20.5 tons (18,643 kilograms) of non-perishable foods to local food banks, providing an estimated 34,250 meals* to people in need in the second quarter.

As part of its challenge, the IDEX Foundation also gave $5,000 USD to each of the more than 40 local food banks supported by IDEX business units, resulting in an additional $215,000 in direct assistance to help people in need.

“The entire IDEX Foundation board is absolutely overwhelmed with the generosity of our business units and how well our site coordinators performed leading the food drives, which are helping so many people during these times of high inflation,” IDEX Foundation Board President Derrick Goddard said. “I would like to personally thank each site leader and all the local teams who got behind this effort for their continued commitment to their communities. I received multiple messages of sincere thanks from the food banks our teams supported.”

As part of the IDEX Foundation challenge, business units competed for which site could collect the most food for donation. Business units were divided into three size groups depending on number of employees and collected non-perishable food donations in the second quarter. The winners earned a celebratory team meal on IDEX.

This was the third food insecurity campaign led by the IDEX Foundation since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020.

*Feeding America estimates 1.2 pounds of food equals one meal.

Fluid Management (FM), which manufactures paint dispensing and mixing equipment in Wheeling, Illinois (USA), recently partnered with Jane Addams Elementary school to sponsor a Spring Concert with Latin Grammy winning children’s music duo 123 Andrés! The group performs “Spanish and English songs for little language learners.”

In their sixth year of the partnership, FM & Jane Addams school invited 123 Andrés to play during a school assembly, where over 500 kids enjoyed the interactive concert during the school day. FM team members volunteered to support the event by helping set-up and also put together goodie bags for students.

With funding from the IDEX Foundation, the school also hosted a concert for the community.

“It was incredible to see the engagement from the kids, families, and staff at Jane Addams. The concert was a huge hit, and the principal and teachers were very appreciative of the opportunity to support this unique cultural experience.” Said Mark Bishop, VP of Human Resources

Located near FM’s office, Jane Addams Elementary school serves over 500 students from Pre-K through 6th grade with 79% minority enrollment. Since partnering with the school in 2016, employees have assisted in several projects, including volunteering at the schools’ track and field day, science night, literacy night, funding the “One School One Book” program and more.

Warren Rupp, which received the IDEX 2021 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Award, recently continued their partnership with the local YMCA for “Serving Up Summer” – a weekly program designed to help children stay active and healthy, providing relief to families in Mansfield, Ohio.

To help battle food insecurity, Warren Rupp team members will volunteer every week this summer to ensure students have food for the weekends. Five Warren Rupp team members recently volunteered for a couple of hours to fill more than 100 bags with nutritious snacks, cereal, and non-perishable food items for the kids to take home over the weekend.

Additionally, team members tended to the community vegetable garden, helped sanitize the splash pad and played kickball with local students.

The team at Warren Rupp also celebrated receiving IDEX’s 2021 CSR award and hosted a ceremony and luncheon for employees and valued community partners last week. During the ceremony, Warren Rupp’s General Manager David Llewellyn presented the YMCA of North Central Ohio with $21,000 USD to purchase a new vehicle for their growing “Y on Wheels” program. The donation will help transport staff, equipment and activities locations off the YMCA grounds.

​Warren Rupp has partnered with the YMCA for at least 10 years and was named as one of the YMCA’s local “Heroes” for their overall fundraising commitment in 2018.

Since 2017, Warren Rupp has supported the Mansfield YMCA in several events including Healthy Kids Day, Y on Wheels, Veterans Breakfast, trunk or treat, and more.

Leadership team members from the IDEX Energy group, which includes Advanced Flow Services (AFS), FlowMD, Toptech Systems, and Sampi, recently gathered in Florida and participated in a volunteer activity with the East Altamonte Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida (BGCCF).

A group of more than fifteen leaders visited the local BGCCF facility and partnered with thirty students (ages 6-12) to build zipline racers using basic engineering & physics concepts. Students were introduced to concepts such as kinetic energy, thrust, velocity, and torque.

With leaders divided into seven groups, IDEX volunteers guided students through the activity, using paper clips, popsicle stick frames, propellers, and rubber bands.

“After some trial and error, most of the racers went very fast. All the students had a blast,” said Arianna Harris, Marketing Manager at Toptech. “There were oohs and aahs and even applause after each racer successfully finished the course.”

Students also enjoyed pizza and cupcakes to celebrate a few of the IDEX volunteer birthdays and IDEX team member Gabriele Attala even taught students a few phrases in Italian.

Over the years, Toptech has partnered closely with the East Altamonte Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida, including hosting many events and even building a technology and activity center.

FlowMD, a unit of the IDEX Energy group, recently partnered with Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) in Phoenix, Arizona to help fight food insecurity.

Twelve employees from the Engineering, Marketing, Quality, Production, Field Service, Accounting, Shipping, and Purchasing departments hand-packed bags with rice, soy, dried vegetables and a nutritionally complete blend of vitamins and minerals. After filling bags with food, team members also sealed, boxed, and placed packages on pallets for shipping.

In less than two hours team members packed a total of 70 boxes, providing almost 15,000 meals for children in Thailand!

“This was our first off-site event as a company, but we hope to continue partnering with FMSC and other organizations to make a difference in communities in need,” Human Resources Generalist Carissa Gonzalez said.

Flow MD engineers and manufactures technically-differentiated “unidirectional captive displacement provers,” also called “small volume provers,” used in the custody transfer of petroleum products, particularly on pipelines. In a market where slight inaccuracies in flow meter measurements at transfer points can result in enormous payment discrepancies for customers, Flow MD’s calibration products serve a critical application.

Located near the FlowMD facility, Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) is a non-profit that provides nutritionally complete meals specifically formulated for malnourished children. Founded in 1987, FMSC helps ship essential foods through over 200 channels to orphanages, schools, clinics, and food programs across 70 countries.

IDEX Health & Science team members at the Life Science Optics Center of Excellence in West Henrietta, New York, began building a community garden to provide fresh, healthy food for employees last year.

Prior to joining the team at the Optics Center of Excellence, Optical Filters Manufacturing Associate Khalil Aboushama, maintained a garden of his own at the Semrock facility in Gates, New York. When that location was moved to the current John Street location, he wanted to continue serving his colleagues.

Inspired by Khalil and his enthusiasm for gardening, IH&S team members partnered with him to start the new garden.

IDEX Fire & Safety (IF&S) recently collaborated with the IDEX Foundation to donate funds for iEmpathize – a non-profit organization which equips adults and first responders with skills to recognize and help eradicate child exploitation and human trafficking.

IF&S donated $25,000 USD to support iEmpathize’s First Responder Training course, offering classroom education on child exploitation and human trafficking prevention to the same first responders that IDEX Fire & Safety’s trusted brands serve on the fireground. The First Responder Training course is designed to address human trafficking specifically from the unique perspective of a firefighter, EMT, paramedic and 911 dispatcher. First responders are uniquely positioned to identify trafficking situations and are often the first to encounter a potential victim or crime. Their role is critical in identifying and responding to human trafficking cases.

“Adults intersect with vulnerable and victimized youth every day, yet cases continue to increase,” said Mark Brende, Engagement Coordinator for the non-profit group, iEmpathize. “By funding our First Responder Training course, IDEX Fire & Safety is helping us provide the tools and equip first responders to identify, report and respond to the issues of child exploitation and human trafficking. We extend our thanks to IDEX Fire & Safety and the IDEX Foundation and appreciate their partnership in the fight against human trafficking.”

IDEX Fire & Safety’s trusted brands in North America include Akron Brass, Hale and HURST Jaws of Life, all of which serve first responders with equipment for the rescue scene. The partnership with iEmpathize allows IDEX Fire & Safety to broaden that commitment to saving lives.

“Building on a long tradition of supplying first responders with the equipment they need on the frontline, we’re equipping firefighters with a different tool to save lives: awareness of human trafficking” said Bill Simmons, president, IDEX Fire & Safety. “We’re proud that IDEX Fire & Safety is able to contribute to such an important initiative and are appreciative of yet another way first responders are saving lives every day.”

“This partnership reflects our commitment to providing trusted solutions to improve lives in a very different, overarching and powerful way,” said Bruce Johnston, Director of Marketing, IDEX Fire & Safety North America Fire & Safety. “The everyday tasks we do, day in and day out, contribute to our promise to work tirelessly to make the fire ground and rescue scene safer. Now, we can take that promise one step further with making the world safer for vulnerable youth.”