'Gray' workers add black to Bonne Bell's bottom line

In these days of low unemployment, Jess Bell has crafted a seniors-only workforce cell that is paying big dividends to his cosmetics company and probably even more so to his community. And Bell has earmarked packaging as the area of expertise for his now 86-strong “full-time part-timers.” Back about three and a half years ago, Bonne Bell was inundated with orders that the company was having trouble producing and shipping. Temporary workers, Bell says, were few and far between. “And those we did find were unsatisfactory,” he says, “mostly young people we couldn’t train properly.” As a last resort, the company asked for volunteers from headquarters to help out weekends and evenings. Two of those volunteers were Jess Bell and his wife, both “qualified seniors.” They were joined by some Bonne Bell retirees and their friends who came to help out. “So we had this nucleus of older folks working together, and we all really enjoyed it,” Bell recalls. After the company survived this crisis, Jess Bell thought there might be more seniors who would like a job, “in my mind, a five-day job, four hours a day,” he says. At that point, he hired a retiree and his wife to canvass senior centers in the western suburbs of Cleveland, near the company’s headquarters in Lakewood and a plant farther out in Westlake. Originally, 16 seniors applied, Bell says, “and I’m happy to say that 13 of them are still with us nearly four years later.” Bell has refined the program. He wanted the seniors to work together as a group, so he remodeled storage space at the headquarters building, adding extra lighting and facilities to make it into a senior work area. The company installed three conveyor lines, three blister packing machines and other equipment. “Early on,” Bell says, “we discovered that packaging was a task these seniors could do very easily.” And the two shifts/day groups are supervised by seniors. “I’m a senior,” Bell says proudly, “and I know I wouldn’t want to be managed by a thirty-five-year-old.” Since his office is nearby, Bell can make sure they’re treated well. For the company, it means that the young women’s cosmetics merchandise has to be shipped in from the other plant and, once packaged, returned to the plant for shipping. However, Bell emphasizes, the benefits greatly outweigh any obstacles. “At the start, there were some skeptics in the company,” he says. “I was warned that these people wouldn’t be at work regularly, that they wouldn’t be able to keep up, that they’d be sick or have to take time for doctor’s appointments. Boy, were they ever wrong! Not only can they keep up, but they’re hardly ever absent,” Bell says with enthusiasm. As an example, he cites the seniors who start at 7:30 a.m. but report to the plant by 7:00; not 7:25 like so many of its younger workers. In addition, the money they earn doesn’t reach the threshold that would reduce Social Security benefits, Bell says. More important than the money, though, the seniors feel good not only about working again (though some have never worked outside the home before) but especially about working with people in the same age group with whom they can relate. After all, Bell notes, every job has a social aspect. From former schoolteachers to nurses to even a couple of retired nuns, “these are people who don’t want to lie around the house in a robe watching some moronic television show,” Bell describes them. Their average age is 71, although the range is from 59 to 90. One aspect of the program that really tickles Jess Bell is the irony of seniors working to pack products that are marketed to their grandchildren. Every three months, the seniors receive a $50 product allowance, he says. “So they fill up on products for their grandkids, and they tell me they’re heroes for the day.” And the program also keeps Jess Bell from being shown up by his wife, Julie. When they both volunteered to help during the crisis, Bell admits, he couldn’t keep up with his wife. “Her dexterity far exceeded mine,” he remembers. “And she beats me at tennis, too. That really ticks me off!” says the proud 76-year-old.