{"id":21316,"date":"2025-08-13T22:02:38","date_gmt":"2025-08-13T20:02:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sw.fst.com\/magazine\/?p=21316"},"modified":"2025-08-14T15:10:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T13:10:07","slug":"a-fresh-start-at-northfield","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sw.fst.com\/magazine\/en\/2025\/08\/a-fresh-start-at-northfield\/","title":{"rendered":"A FRESH Start at Northfield"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"is-style-cnvs-paragraph-callout wp-block-paragraph\">Employees at Freudenberg Sealing Technologies (FST) gathered in July to celebrate a key milestone in the company\u2019s regional transformation with the grand reopening of its Northfield manufacturing site. The event marked the latest achievement under Project FRESH, a strategic initiative launched in April 2024 to consolidate operations from the Ashland site into the Northfield facility. The ribbon-cutting ceremony took place in the site\u2019s newly renovated cafeteria and was finalized with an $11,000 donation to the Tilton-Northfield Fire Department from ProCon, the primary contractor, on behalf of FST.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over the past year, the sites of the Dynamic Sealing Division in New Hampshire have undergone significant changes, including equipment consolidation, portfolio management, and facility renovations. In Northfield, the new cafeteria and entrance are the first major spaces to open, designed to provide employees with a more comfortable and flexible start and end to their shifts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1160\" height=\"773\" src=\"https:\/\/sw.fst.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/FNSTRibbonCutting_2ND_04-1-1160x773.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-21317\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sw.fst.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/FNSTRibbonCutting_2ND_04-1-1160x773.jpg 1160w, https:\/\/sw.fst.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/FNSTRibbonCutting_2ND_04-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https:\/\/sw.fst.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/FNSTRibbonCutting_2ND_04-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/sw.fst.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/FNSTRibbonCutting_2ND_04-1-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/sw.fst.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/FNSTRibbonCutting_2ND_04-1-120x80.jpg 120w, https:\/\/sw.fst.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/FNSTRibbonCutting_2ND_04-1-90x60.jpg 90w, https:\/\/sw.fst.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/FNSTRibbonCutting_2ND_04-1-320x213.jpg 320w, https:\/\/sw.fst.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/FNSTRibbonCutting_2ND_04-1-560x373.jpg 560w, https:\/\/sw.fst.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/FNSTRibbonCutting_2ND_04-1-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/sw.fst.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/FNSTRibbonCutting_2ND_04-1-scaled.jpg 2560w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1160px) 100vw, 1160px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The transformation has presented some challenges. For the local team, construction temporarily restricted access to restrooms and parking, and office staff were relocated several times. For the business, customer communication and managing expectations required close collaboration among many teams.<br><br>Despite the disruptions, the team stayed focused on creating a more efficient and welcoming workplace. <strong>Casey Blanchard<\/strong>, Competence Center Manager, talked about the collaboration during the project, \u201cEvery person in the room \u2013 and many others from our global team \u2013 have made essential contributions to this project. I want to thank everyone for their trust and patience during this transition.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The site now consolidates expertise from FST\u2019s Powertrain, Heavy Duty, and Simmerring Industry Customized Solutions Lead Centers. This move aims to reduce complexity, enhance operational stability and create room for future growth. It also strengthens FST\u2019s long-standing presence in New Hampshire, where it has been a major employer for decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis space reflects the progress we\u2019ve made together,\u201d said <strong>Zachary Miller<\/strong>, Project Manager and Quoting Specialist. \u201cWe\u2019re not at the finish line yet, but today marks a significant step forward. There\u2019s plenty to celebrate, and even more ahead as we continue developing our Maintenance, Process Development, and Engineered Services areas, which are scheduled for completion by the end of the year.\u201d<br><br>The reopening event recognized progress and reaffirmed FST\u2019s commitment to its people and the community it serves. To acknowledge their unwavering support of FST during the renovations, the Tilton-Northfield Fire Department joined the event and was presented with a $11,000 donation from ProCon, the primary contractors, on behalf of FST.&nbsp; Michael Sitar, Fire Chief, shared that these funds will help purchase new exercise equipment for their fitness center.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"pld-like-dislike-wrap pld-template-1\">\r\n    <div class=\"pld-like-wrap  pld-common-wrap\">\r\n    <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\" class=\"pld-like-trigger pld-like-dislike-trigger  \" title=\"\" data-post-id=\"21316\" data-trigger-type=\"like\" data-restriction=\"ip\" data-already-liked=\"0\">\r\n                        <i class=\"fas fa-thumbs-up\"><\/i>\r\n                <\/a>\r\n    <span class=\"pld-like-count-wrap pld-count-wrap\">2    <\/span>\r\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Employees at Freudenberg Sealing Technologies (FST) gathered in July to celebrate a key milestone in the company\u2019s regional transformation with the grand reopening of its Northfield manufacturing site. The event&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":21317,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[541,544],"tags":[],"powerkit_post_featured":[],"class_list":["post-21316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-northfield-en","category-usa-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sw.fst.com\/magazine\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sw.fst.com\/magazine\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sw.fst.com\/magazine\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sw.fst.com\/magazine\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sw.fst.com\/magazine\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21316"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sw.fst.com\/magazine\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21316\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21333,"href":"https:\/\/sw.fst.com\/magazine\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21316\/revisions\/21333"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sw.fst.com\/magazine\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sw.fst.com\/magazine\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sw.fst.com\/magazine\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sw.fst.com\/magazine\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21316"},{"taxonomy":"powerkit_post_featured","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sw.fst.com\/magazine\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/powerkit_post_featured?post=21316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}