Radio Design Group
Why Southern Oregon?
Jim Hendershot, Radio Design
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Quality of life, an attractive place, a great place to live
Location: Grants Pass
(541) 471-1100
Owner: Jim Hendershot
and Alan Young Employees: 22 Click here to visit the Radio Design Group website
Not everyone associates high technology with small businesses in rural Southern Oregon. Certainly there is no Intel or Hewlett Packard presence, but despite the lack of the heavy-hitters, there are more than a handful of businesses that are not only embracing high technology, but are leaders in their respective industries. One great example is Grants Pass-based Radio Design Group. Company president Jim Hendershot founded the company in 1992 in Josephine County as an evolution from his one-man consulting business. That same year he hired his first technician, and the new business took flight.
Hendershot’s company designs and builds high-end specialized radio frequency products for commercial and military applications. He says the business is innovative on purpose. “It’s one of our core reasons for existing; our whole job is to try to find innovative solutions to problems, to find unconventional ways of doing things.” Hendershot says he has diverse staff thinking outside the box that drives the business. “We would not be in business if it weren’t for the creative and innovative ideas that go on around here all the time.”
When it comes to employees and the importance of key talent to the success of his business, Hendershot cites Southwest Airlines as a good example of Radio Design Group’s approach. Instead of ranking shareholder value and profit as the key driver with employees somewhere further down the list of priorities, as with Southwest the concept of placing employees at the top of the list and hiring and caring for good, talented people – the rest (customer satisfaction and profits) takes care of itself.
One of the things that make the company special is the varied work environment. Hendershot says that it’s “apples and oranges” when comparing his company to any of his competitors. Radio Design seeks out challenging work – work that others may turn away because a solution to a specific problem isn’t readily apparent. “There is a lot of variability in the technologies that we use and the challenges of daily tasks,” he says. “There are no boring jobs here; we are not a place that turns out widgets. You walk in the door and there’s always something new every day.”
Radio Design Group has enjoyed exceptional business growth to date and looks to move into a brand new facility in nearby Rogue River in a few years. The move will allow the company to add up to 15 more employees, double their business volume and have at least 50% growth within five years. However, Hendershot is quick to point out that he has a good grasp on change and that it is difficult to predict the future. “Based on the past, we’ve learned that whatever you thought you had planned, it is subject to change.”
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