International Women’s Day, on Sunday March 8th, celebrates the achievements and aspirations of women across the world. At Rome Grinding Solutions, these accomplishments are honored as a core of the business.
Rome Grinding Solutions has a rich history of women leading in the manufacturing industry. When the company was founded in 1977, it was run by Dolores and Dan Boster. As a family business it was passed to their child Bonnie and her husband Mike Weaver in 1990. In 2002, Rome’s current President and daughter of Bonnie and Mike Weaver, Kate Rome, purchased her first piece of the business, adding to the legacy of always being majority women owned and operated.
From the beginning of Rome, Boster made it clear that what mattered most was nurturing employees and getting the job done, regardless of traditional gender expectations. When Kate started working at Rome at the age of 16, she was the only woman actively working in the company at the time. After gaining experience in the male-dominated food processing industry, she decided to follow her grandmother’s mentality and worked hard to shift the culture. Since becoming president, Kate has hired woman in all roles across the company, bumping the number up to women representing 25% of all employees. Kate has also lead industry groups for women in food processing, and has won awards for her contributions to empowering women in the manufacturing industries.
Kate honors the entrepreneurial spirit of her grandmother and mother in her day to day operations of the company. The women of Rome Grinding Solutions have built an empire that celebrates the unique talents of its employees. There is always work to be done to achieve equal representation for women in manufacturing, and the women of Rome are leading the way.