Plant Seeds of Hope | Watch the Smiles Grow

In JuÁrez, Quanex’s Hardware Solutions team focuses on the community’s most pressing needs

It’s about hope. It’s about giving. It’s about sharing. And maybe most importantly, it’s about smiles.

And for the hardware plant and the 600 employees in Juárez, Mexico, those smiles come from caring initiatives that help kids, animals, families, and communities.

“Whatever is in our power to provide, we want to provide it,” said Octavio Baro, plant manager, and someone whose positive energy is palpable and infectious. “And when we see a smile in return, for me, I get more than enough back. That’s what we do here.”

Now we’re all smiling for the plant, because they’re this year’s Quanex Cares Award recipient.

“We are very interested in the bond we have with the community and with our own employees,” said Cinthia Mendoza, HR assistant at the plant. Juárez is a place with areas of poverty, with a large number of animals without owners on the streets, and with sectors of society in total abandonment.”

In 2024, the plant’s human resources team dedicated time to identifying the areas and situations to help, with input from Octavio and other team members at the plant. The result wasn’t one specific initiative, but an all-of-the-above menu of ideas to help the community where so many employees live and work.

Those initiatives included donating blankets and cleaning supplies to homes of abandoned older adults; giving school supplies and sweets to children in marginalized areas in a community kitchen (“The candies bring out the biggest smiles,” Octavio notes.); donating toys at Christmas for low-income children; carrying out vaccination campaigns against the rabies virus and providing blankets and food for homeless dogs and cats; and supporting children’s health care and assistance for an elderly care shelter.

Such actions go a long way in a community that has its share of challenges. “We are present here,” Octavio said. “We may be sad to see bad news, but what we do is like planting a seed in the land, and then it’s flowering. It’s amazing.”

That support and mindset of giving is ongoing and year-round. That mindset also extends to individuals at the plant, where they help each other. If anyone is going through a difficult situation, people step up by donating food, clothing, and financial support, not to mention supporting blood drives and donating medicine and supplies when someone’s family member is sick or has an accident.

Visit the facility and you’ll see the smiles are everywhere. “This January was the first time the Quanex leadership came down for a visit,” Octavio said. “Our 300 team members on first shift all gave big smiles without stopping what they were doing. One of the vice presidents said, “There are so many people smiling here.’ and I said, ‘It’s because they’re happy and happy to see you.'”