Page 56 - Entrepreneur-November 2018
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ASHISH AHLAWAT/                                   ERIN KENNEDY/ HR business partner
         Senior materials manager                          “Candidates ask me on a daily basis what it’s like to work
         “I’m responsible for the materials we use across all   here. One of the best parts is that the work-life lines are pretty
         our products. We have our own prototyping center   blurred. Burton employees are always together either hiking,
         outside Shanghai, where we test new materials and   riding, or mountain biking—we all live our lifestyle together.”
         designs to really stay ahead of the industry in terms
         of innovation. And at our small sampling room here in
         Vermont, we can make snowboards within 24 hours.”



























                             CORY SWEITZER/ Video editor
                             “During the winter, I get to travel with our events crew
                             for the Burton Qualifiers, a Rail Jam series across
                             North America. We’ll fly to the event on a Thursday
                             and fly back home Sunday, so it’s a 72-hour mini-
                             vacation, jam-packed with traveling, working, and
                             enjoying ourselves in between. We’re exhausted on
                             Monday, but those are my favorite weekends.”




       Inside Burton


        Interviews by HAYDEN FIELD


       THERE’S NO SHORTAGE OF passion at Burton’s Burlington, Vt., headquarters.
       The 41-year-old snowboard company employs a team of 360 who love the sport
       their work revolves around—and when there’s two feet of fresh powder on the
       ground, the company closes for a snow day and encourages the staff to hit the
       slopes. The office doesn’t feel that far away from the mountain anyway: In addi-
       tion to ski-lodge-like details that make for a cozy working space, HQ is packed
       with employees’ dogs, offers an expansive garden with individual plots for staff-
       ers, and features impromptu happy hours in the great outdoors.




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