Today is World Mental Health Day. Did you know that more than 1 in 10 people live with a mental health condition? And likely fewer than half will seek out help or support. As we observe World Mental Health Day, we want to fight against the stigma often associated with mental health. If you’re struggling, we urge you to speak to your doctor to help you find a healthy treatment plan. You’re not alone.
Some additional ways you can care for your mental health are to talk about your feelings with a trusted individual, stay active, eat well, and do something you’re good at or enjoy.
You can read more about World Mental Health Day and find additional resources here.
In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, we’re sharing the stories of several Latinx employees within our U.S. facilities.
“We educate operators to produce quality products that help our customers sleep better. I’m proud of the diverse skill set every individual on our team presents. We all feel a sense of accomplishment when we fix a machine and get it running. Being able to pass my expertise on to both our English and Spanish speaking operators allows me to help them grow their careers, too.”
Gerardo Lopez
EOJT Coordinator / Machine Specialist
Leggett & Platt fosters a culture of giving, encouraging our employees to Do Some Good. Throughout the course of our local, Southwest Missouri campaign, we will shine a spotlight on several of the incredible agencies that United Way serves in our community. Times may be difficult, but we have witnessed communities rising to meet these hard moments. If in a position to give this year, we encourage you to support your local agency, too.
Since 1964, Legal Aid of Western Missouri has provided dignity, self-sufficiency, and justice through quality civil legal aid for those who may have nowhere else to turn.
Many low-income individuals are denied the basic rights to which they are entitled under the law simply because they can’t afford an attorney. The availability of free civil legal aid can make all the difference to those fighting to stay in their homes, escape domestic violence, secure veterans’ benefits, or address many other legal challenges that go to the heart of their security and well-being.
Contributions to our local United Ways help fund two specific programs at Legal Aid of Western Missouri – Access to Healthcare and Voices in Court.
When members of our community become sick and cannot work, they may be unable to afford the treatment they need to return to good health. If Medicare or Medicaid benefits are unfairly denied or terminated prematurely, those without insurance are left with very few options. The Access to Healthcare program works with these individuals to ensure they receive due process in fighting for the benefits to which they are entitled.
“We get many referrals from partner agencies and local hospitals,” says Pam Roychaudhury, Managing Attorney. “By helping patients qualify for benefits they need to receive medical treatment, we can actually save lives.”
The Voices in Court program supports local victims of domestic violence, with legal representation that is often vital to their safety. A local study found that only 50% of protective order requests are granted if the victim does not have an attorney, while 98% are successful if they have representation.
Victims of abuse are often afraid to leave their abuser because they don’t want to leave their kids in the home with the abuser. The Voices in Court program also helps to protect children in these households through temporary custody orders. In some cases, the child is also a victim. By partnering with other organizations in the community, these families are able to leave an unsafe environment.
“Our clients truly need a voice in court – or someone to represent them,” says Pam. “These cases are often very intimidating and can last for months. It’s important that victims have someone to support them through that difficult process.”
Today is Manufacturing Day in the United States and we celebrate all those who proudly stand behind our goods and services. We are committed to developing quality products and unlocking innovative technologies to grow our economy. Today’s employees will power the next chapter of American production and innovation.
In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, we’re sharing the stories of several Latinx employees within our U.S. facilities.
“I’ve worked for L&P for 46 years and it’s the only company I’ve worked for since moving to the U.S. As a forklift driver, it’s my responsibility to ensure that everyone on my team has the materials they need during our shift. They depend on me and this job allows me to support them — as well as my family.”
Juan Garcia
Forklift Driver / Material Handler
Our new LP Comfort Connect™ technology provides a unique platform for delivering smart, customizable products to our customers. However, this innovation would never have been possible without the dedicated work of our Comfort Connect team. They collaborated to find unique solutions, improve processes, and differentiate our company in the marketplace through the development of this technology. Today we shine a light on just one of those team members.
Nate Hobbs began his career at L&P in August of 2018 as the Director of Engineering – Electrical. Since that time, he’s gained responsibility for the Product Development Quality Assurance department as well as internal software tools and systems. He also helps to lead the team in charge of developing L&P’s new Comfort Connect™ technology – proprietary hardware and software which are integrated to support L&P’s newest adjustable bed product, which is reaching the final project stages. In addition to a traditional remote, movements and feature sets of the bed are controlled through the LP Comfort Connect™ app, which was also developed by the team, and integrated with Alexa to enable voice commands.
Nate’s work with the Comfort Connect™ project began after the product had already been conceptualized and prototyped, but his knowledge of systems and engineering as well as his experience in quality assurance was vital to the successful deployment of the product. “Some initial feasibility work was complete and basic software was developed, so my role is to work with the team to bring the product to full maturity and help get it into production,” says Nate.
The project hasn’t come without its challenges, however. “The technology is required to be very robust, so making sure everything works properly every single time so the consumers don’t have any inconveniences is a huge priority. Part of my team’s job on the quality assurance side is to go through the process of system integration and regression testing before the product is released to consumers,” he shares.
In fact, customer experience is the primary focus of Nate’s work. He has worked with the team to develop solutions vital not only to the usability and functionality of the software itself, but he’s even played a part in creating in-house testing capabilities at our production facilities. “The team developed in-house programming stations as well as an end-of-line test station so that we can ensure everything on the adjustable base functions properly before passing the product on to the consumer,” he says.
The Comfort Connect team has a monumental task – to create the industry’s first voice-controlled bed system – and with leaders and team members like Nate, it’s becoming a reality. When the project is complete, LP Comfort Connect™ will be released on a limited-model production basis.
“My favorite part about working on the Comfort Connect project has been making sure all the pieces work together. From the cloud software, control box, test systems – taking all the components and putting them together to create such a unique product has been challenging, but has also given me the opportunity to be part of something that’s never been done in the industry before,” he says.
In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, we’re sharing the stories of several Latinx employees within our U.S. facilities.
“I think my job at L&P is important because I’m able to help and connect with different employees every day. I’m able to use my Spanish speaking skills to translate different documents and help employees who struggle with English.
There are many aspects of my culture that make me proud to be Hispanic. I appreciate how close-knit and encouraging Latinos are as a society. We are known for helping one another and contributing to the greater good. I also really enjoy the different foods we are known for including tamales, garnachas, empanadas, and arroz con leche.
I keep close contact with my family around the U.S. and Guatemala. Anytime I see or talk to my family they are very warm and welcoming and make me feel as if we see each other every single day.”
Matthew Lopez
Bilingual HR Assistant
On this IT Professionals Day, we owe a big round of applause to all of our dedicated employees in Information Technology. You keep us up and running, connected, and able to do our jobs each and every day.
Thank you!
L&P’s Adjustable Bed Engineering group recently organized an information session for potential job and internship candidates at Missouri S&T. During the event, they talked about L&P’s rich history in the manufacturing industry and shared the real-world learning opportunities that our internships can provide.
To generate additional excitement with the students, they demonstrated one of L&P’s adjustable bases along with a working display case that included the various Internet of Things items able to integrate with the bed. The mechanical and electrical engineering students were impressed with the opportunities for learning offered by our internship program — including the ability to collaborate on the development of new products.
Internships are available across various cross-functional backgrounds including: mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, electronics engineering, mobile app development, cloud software engineering, embedded software development, and more.
Interested candidates should visit careers.leggett.com for more information.