Text and Photos
By Patrick Webb
InkFreeNews
WARSAW — Around 5,000 Zimmer Biomet employees celebrated the company’s 97th anniversary on Founder’s Day on Thursday, May 2.
According to Zimmer Biomet CEO Ivan Tornos, the company’s founder’s day celebrates the anniversary of when Justin Orville Zimmer founded the company in 1927.
“Justin believed in serving others as the way to contribute to society,” said Tornos. “That means developing best in class technologies, devices, and solutions.”
Tornos said the company celebrates founder’s day by serving others, including during the celebrations where employees were served catered food.
According to Zimmer Biomet Internal Communications Senior Manager Heather Chalfant, Zimmer Biomet’s two campuses and all three shifts, containing around 4-5,000 employees, were celebrating together. Outdoor games, such as Jenga and corn hole, were set up for employees to relax and have fun.
Employees also had a chance to contribute to a food drive for Combined Community Services. Chalfant said that donations for the food drive would be matched by the Zimmer Biomet Foundation.
“We’re in the business of helping people,” Tornos said, such as with medical devices.
“We want to have a culture to foster helping others. Before you help others outside the corporation, we need to help people inside,” said Tornos. He said that was Zimmer Biomet’s first principle, that if the company takes care of its employees, the employees will take care of customers.
Zimmer Biomet Vice President of Warsaw Operations Shawn Fergison said that multiple people were involved in the production of the Founder’s Day.
“It’s a great event, gets all the teammates together here in Warsaw, and it’s a great, beautiful day to have it. We’re excited to have everybody together,” Fergison said.
Fergison said it was important to highlight the teammates’ contributions to Zimmer Biomet. The Founder’s Day celebration is a thank-you to workers, he said.
Fergison said that employees not only impact the community, but patients by changing their lives with implants.
“We’re proud to be here in Warsaw,” said Fergison. “We have a great workforce.”
Tornos said what’s kept Zimmer Biomet in Warsaw for 97 years is the people, culture, and talent.
“No other place on Earth has the expertise when it comes to developing best in class medical devices,” Tornos said. “And I’m saying medical devices, not just orthopedic.”
Tornos explained that Zimmer Biomet and Warsaw’s vision was to expand manufacturing beyond orthopedics. He added that Zimmer Biomet’s collaborations, such as with Plug and Play, were helping to “do big things beyond orthopedics.”
Tornos also said he supported returning passenger train service to Warsaw, which he added would help Zimmer Biomet grow. “I hope the day comes,” he said.
“It’s a great day to celebrate the legacy of this company, 97 years. As we tell people we’re just getting started,” Tornos said. “Zimmer Biomet is Warsaw and Warsaw is Zimmer Biomet.”
Zimmer Biomet will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2027. Fergison said the 100th Founder’s Day will be similar to the 97th, and continue to celebrate teammates’ contributions to the company.
