EASLEY – Saturday, Sulzer and its employees had a global celebration worldwide to recognize their 175 years of business.

Employees of Sulzer in Easley and their families were invited to join in the fun including a catered lunch from Mutts Barbeque, factory tours, blowup rides, cotton candy, popcorn, a water balloon toss, face painting, and bubbles.

The group included Alan Crawford, President of Sulzer Process Pumps in the United States; Kaarlo Horo, retiring president in the United States; and Mikko Hirvensalo, President of Sulzer Process Pump universally. He is from Winterthur, Switzerland. Hirvensalo was the guest speaker at the event.

Sulzer in Easley was built from 1989 to 1991. This was 155 years after the Winterthur, Switzerland Company began. The company has 85 employees in the United States, most of which reside in Easley.

All three presidents agreed that Easley was a great location for the company. The people are great, the area is close to the paper mills in the South East and the company has been prosperous in the area.

Sulzer of Easley was one of the top 20 finalists in last year’s competition in Industry Week Magazine. It was named the best factory in the Sulzer Pumps division.

Sulzer of Easley also prides itself in being an active part of the community. The company is involved with Meals on Wheels and is a sponsor of the Big League World Series that is held yearly in Easley. They participate in charity events at Christmas time like Toys for Tots.

Crawford said they expected around 170 people for the event on Saturday. He said that family is a big thing for their company. The average tenure of employees is well over ten years.

“Families are moving from all over to join this business in Easley,” said Hirvensalo.

“Sulzer is a very good place to work,” said Horo. “I have worked here for 40 years now.”

Sulzer is a company that not many people know much about. Most people have, however, seen the building where it’s located on Highway 8 in Easley.

“Because we don’t sell to individuals, many people don’t know us,” said retiring president Kaarlo Horo. “We have kept a low profile; however, the industries know who we are.”

Sulzer has made changes to become more eco-friendly as well. “We have an ongoing project to conserve energy,” said Crawford. “We are changing the lights in the factory which will save several thousands of dollars a year. We also have a project that will cut our water consumption by 50 percent.”

Sulzer was awarded the ISO 1401 Environmental Standard Certificate that represents the proper managing of environmental impacts.

“That is a very important issue for us at Sulzer,” said Horo.

Sulzer’s safety standards are also a prideful part of the company. They went five years without having someone out of work due to an accident. There have been no loss-time accidents during this year of business.