U.S. Rubber CEO Jeff Baldassari recognized for “doing well and doing good” in BakerHostetler Alumni Spotlight
BakerHostetler
‘We Keep Learning Something New Every Week, Every Month, Every Year’
Alum applies lessons learned three decades ago as a BakerHostetler associate to his work today as a corporate CEO.
Baldassari was an early adopter of sustainable manufacturing practices at The Taylor Companies, earning national recognition. He’s continued and expanded such efforts at U.S. Rubber, which takes millions of pounds of discarded truck tires out of the waste stream each year, repurposing them into home and commercial gym flooring, rubber underlayment that abates sound transmission between floors in multi-story buildings, and rolled matting used for vegetation management control along freeways.
The company thrived during the pandemic, partly by pivoting from selling primarily to businesses to providing products to online retailers that sell direct to consumers as well, he says. “We’ve doubled our sales in the last year and a half, and I can see growth continuing exponentially in 2023.” This requires a robust workforce. While many companies struggle to attract workers, U.S. Rubber reaches out to a population other employers tend to ignore – former felons. The program predates Baldassari, but he has leaned into it, dubbing it “Bounce Back!” – a nod to the company’s products and to the opportunity the program gives to second-chance hires.
