Innovative and exceptional business and economic planning by Glen Hinshaw, CEO of RESAWear, resulted in the Prescott firm being named winner of the ARIZONA@WORK 2018 Small Employer of the Year Award.
The award was presented Aug. 8 at the Highlands Center for Natural History in Prescott. The presentation was part of the Yavapai County Workforce Development Board’s (YCWDB) annual meeting.
Teri Drew, regional director of Northern Arizona Council of Governments (NACOG), explained in a written document that Hinshaw and the company he founded had created a successful plan to hire more than 100 new employees in the greater Prescott area within the next year. She also wrote that Hinshaw was offering above average starting wages, which began at $25 an hour.
Drew noted that RESAWear attained a 99 percent retention rate for hiring and training employees.
Only two years old, RESAWear began in Prescott as the manufacturer of medical-grade custom orthotic insoles. The manufacturing process involves imaging a customer’s feet with a laser optical scanning system. Data from that digital scan then is translated into a 3D printer, which then creates custom orthotic insoles in about an hour.
From those early beginnings in a rehabilitated warehouse, Hinshaw and his team are expanding the business into a multi-million dollar company with products to be distributed nationwide. Most recently, RESAWear began an agreement with COSTCO to place its unique orthotic-making kiosks in stores around the country.
Other distribution opportunities are being explored. QCBN
By Ray Newton, QCBN