ABI LEGENDS IN MANUFACTURING AWARDS

Under 100 Employees

Larry Raymon

Owner and CEO – Raymon Donco Air Distribution Equipment, Albion, Iowa

Raymon Donco Air Distribution Equipment manufactures air distribution equipment for the heating, ventilating and air conditioning industry, including a custom line of air diffusers used in commercial buildings.

The culture of the company has long been a core value of owner and CEO Larry Raymon, who joined the company in 1979, before acquiring total ownership of the company in the early 1980s. 

“One of my early management goals was to create a ‘culture of quality’ — quality of employees, quality of customers, and quality of products,” Raymon wrote in a CIRAS newsletter. “I wanted to have a company that combined the beauty of a college campus with an inside environment that was reminiscent of a convention center.”

The company’s work environment in Albion stands apart from others, thanks to a spick-and-span 60,000-square-foot building featuring an art gallery, and a 10-acre campus that includes two acres of restored natural prairie grass and flowers and an apple orchard for employees.

“It’s hard to make poor quality products in a high-quality environment,” Raymon wrote. Raymon has leveraged that expertise to help as he serves on the ABI workplace and product safety committee.

His belief in a strong culture leads to an investment in the community as well. In the summer of 2021 Raymon opened Raymon Veterans Park, which sits across the street from the campus in Albion. The park features a limestone gun display building that contains a restored M110A2 howitzer, and a dedication plaza with a lighted plaque honoring veterans, three lighted flag poles and six bronze plaques embedded in limestone walls recognizing each branch of the United States military, according to the Marshalltown Times-Republican.

In addition, early in 2020 during the midst of the outbreak of COVID-19, the company produced and distributed 25,983 free nonmedical fabric masks, 2,470 plastic face shields and 2,310 aluminum mask spacers.

Raymon’s philosophy of “Heartland values. America’s vision.” certainly shines through at both the company and in his community.