Room & Board Named to Fast Company’s “World’s Most Innovative Companies” List of 2019

Room & Board – NYC

Fast Company, a media brand known by many to cover the best innovation in business and design, last week announced its signature list of “World’s Most Innovative Companies” of 2019. The annual list honors “businesses making the most profound impact on both industry and culture.”

Of this year’s crop of winners, the Minneapolis-based retail furniture company Room & Board, named one of the Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Retail, caught our attention.

While Room & Board got its start as a home furnishings brand, its Business Interiors group caters to the commercial and hospitality customer – check out their offerings here. The company’s passion for creating relevant, usable furniture, and its remarkable leadership in company policies and employee support, exudes the type of workplace culture that many in the contract A&D industry strive to create for their clients.

interior workspace at Room & Board “Central” headquarters in Golden Valley/Minneapolis, Minnesota

In 1980, long before companies at the turn of the 21st Century began creating boutique luxury goods around the idea that purchasing American-made was again trendy and desirable, Room & Board was founded on that very principle.

Bruce Champeau, President & COO of Room & Board

Room & Board manufactures more than 90% of its products in America “using top-quality U.S. and imported materials to give customers the best combination of quality and price,” notes the press announcement. “Since 1980, Room & Board has focused on the simple idea that good design should be beautiful, affordable and long-lasting. The company works closely with American artisans to offer modern furniture and accessories created using natural and responsibly sourced materials – even custom pieces – that fit the needs of modern life.”

Room & Board is one of many residential companies experiencing an uptick in its pieces being used in office interiors – certainly part of the flexible, residential influence that has permeated contract interiors.

In an officeinsight interview, we spoke with Bruce Champeau, Room & Board President & COO, and Nancy Greatrix Manley, Director of Human Resources, about earning the Fast Company honor.

“Our past has always been about sustainability,” said Mr. Champeau. “Our beginnings as a company are rooted in a

time years ago when environmentalism and sustainability seemed like it could be a passing fad, but it was never that way for us. We wanted to build furniture that people would pass down through generations.”

Nancy Greatrix Manley, Director of Human Resources at Room & Board

While building its business around quality, American-made furnishings meant to last a lifetime, Room & Board’s employee experience has become revered in the 17 communities nationwide that it is a part of.

In addition to maintaining a minimum salary range of $40,000 to $47,000, the company has a policy of hiring a full-time work force that enjoys benefits including three-week paid vacations, healthcare, life insurance and profit sharing. Decades ahead of other companies, Room & Board offered employees same-sex partner benefits.

“When you hire people full-time, people who are mature and focused on the work and on the culture we’re trying to create, you have great success,” said Ms. Greatrix Manley. “We want to create a culture that makes it reasonable to work here.”

“Make it reasonable to work here” – a humble statement, and one that has served Room & Board well as it shapes its customer and employee experiences.

“All companies have a culture,” said Ms. Greatrix Manley. “Some are incidental, and some are more intentional. Our culture is built around respect relationships, and around finding your life’s work. Those core values drive everything we do.”

Room & Board “Central” headquarters in Golden Valley/Minneapolis, Minnesota – View from workspace to interior courtyard
Interior courtyard
Room & Board “Central” headquarters in Golden Valley/Minneapolis, Minnesota – lunchroom

More than a dozen years ago and again ahead of its time, Room & Board created a Wellness Manager position – someone who would work to cultivate the wellbeing of each employee – addressing professional, physical, mental and emotional health through benefits, corporate directives, and health programs. A major component in this focus on wellbeing is volunteerism – something Ms. Greatrix Manley notes is a key contributor to the health of humans.

Etting bookcases made with douglas fir wood shelves reclaimed from the original framing of row houses in Baltimore. Some of the wood panels date back to the 1800s.

Room & Board’s employees participate in volunteer programs addressing sustainability, homelessness, the LGBTQ community, and many other areas of need. After putting grants together, the company opens the options up to employees to choose what program best fits them and their priorities.

McKean storage cabinet, made of pine salvaged from roof decking of row houses and granaries in Baltimore. “The unique markings on each board show the history of its former use and can include knots, small splits, iron stains and nail holes.” The McKean collections includes storage cabinets, console tables, and media cabinets.

“We want to let them choose where they feel they want to spend their time,” said Ms. Greatrix Manley. “Writing a check is easy. What we’re trying to do is empower the people who work here and them people in our communities. We want to work on things that have a direct impact on a community, as well as on the lives of individuals.”

From leadership’s point of view, volunteerism leads to superior employee happiness – but also, valuable employee synergy.

“What’s so special to me is seeing all of these people from different departments and different areas of expertise coming together in meaningful ways through volunteering,” said Mr. Champeau. “To see that intersection of people is powerful.”

One of many, and the most recent, service partnerships Room & Board has pursued is a collaboration with USDA Forest Service to “pilot a program in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, aimed at improving American communities environmentally, socially and economically,” notes the Fast Company award press announcement. “As part of the Urban Wood Project, Room & Board works with an ecosystem of non-profits to reclaim old-growth timber from abandoned row homes and turn it into modern, sustainable furniture and decor sold at their store locations nationwide and online.”

“To date, Room & Board has salvaged more than 60 row homes (the equivalent of five miles of lumber that would have otherwise found its way to a landfill) and helped create 30 jobs for those under-served in Baltimore. With the Urban Wood Project, Room & Board affirms its commitment to positively impact the environment and to give back to the community, one modern piece at a time.”

The press announcement regarding the nomination noted that Room & Board is a first-time honoree this year, and the only home furnishings company in the U.S. to be included. “Fast Company’s editors and writers sought out groundbreaking businesses across 35 industries and every region…It provides both a snapshot and a road map for the future of innovation across the most dynamic sectors of the economy.”

“Established players are showing the same kind of nimbleness that we’ve generally associated with startups,” said Fast Company deputy editor David Lidsky, who oversaw the issue with senior editor Amy Farley.

Employee volunteerism is a key part of work-life at Room & Board. “Writing is a check is easy. What we’re trying to do is empower the people who work here and them people in our communities. We want to work on things that have a direct impact on a community, as well as on the lives of individuals.”