HARVARD- Though their primary trade is producing cutting-edge communication, navigation and radar components, the team from Renaissance Electronics Co. has been busy with humanitarian endeavors this holiday season.

Employees from the company, located on Lancaster County Road, donated food and toys to support the annual Ayer Police Department toy drive and Loaves and Fishes food pantry.  They contributed toys for 50 children and food for 25 meals, which had company CEO Tom Kurian calling the in-house effort a collaborative success.

Tom Kurian, Lisa Felix, Mike Snee and Richard Crabtree present REC's donation

“I am delighted in the great response from our staff in this effort,” he said.  “It is a privilege to join the work of Laves and Fishes and the Ayer Police Department; to be able to provide food and gifts to our own community members is the true meaning for this season.

“Contributing to the community we work and live in is very important to Renaissance Electronics,” said Kurian.  “This is one of the values this company stands on.”

While the food and toy drives were something new for the company that designs, manufacture, and market microwave communication components, social conscience is not.  The company donated over $33,000 to various relief and charitable causes in the last 12 months.

A newly articulated mission statement from the company has put commitment to culture and community into the company manual.  In short, the company, whose motto is “The new thinking in wireless technology,” is employing some new thinking in its management.

It is also part of the company’s new cultural policy, said Kurian.  It is centered on a vision statement that puts priority on a healthy work culture, and is buttressed by what he called culture value points, such as integrity and community, for each  month on the calendar.

Within that framework, the guidelines include a strong commitment to teambuilding family and friendship values, which is supplemented by regular company events and opportunities for team members to interact through less formal means.  The company has a spacious lounge with an indoor basketball hoop and ping pong tables adjoining the company cafeteria.

Added to the mix are regular activities that focus everybody on common goals, said office manager Lisa Felix.  It is having a positive effect on operations within 90 days of being implemented.

“It builds team morale,” she said.  “We know that everybody is on the same page… We may all have different responsibilities, but at the end of the day, we all contribute.”

“The key is (that) nobody is left out,” said manager Mike Snee.

Originally founded in Boxborough in 1991 and moved to Harvard six years ago, Kurian said the company needed a revised mission statement reflecting the ongoing growth, which he pegged at 30 percent each of the past two years.  The company currently has 40 employees.

Renaissance reps said they have been happy to note that the business community in that area has grown substantially in that short time, and hope this new philosophy will help the company continue to grow by recruiting  and keeping top talent.

In the meantime, charitable activities that stem from the new policies will undoubtedly provide comfort to those in need this winter, and could provide even more next year.

While drive coordinators Snee and Felix spoke of this year’s effort as the company getting its feet wet, they indicated it my well grow with the possibility of opening things up to business neighbors and the community at large next time around.

“We thought we’d start out here and see how it played out, and it’s played out pretty well,” said Snee.

He also said that the employees who gave make it a success.

“it wasn’t just management, it was everyone here,” he said.  “A big part of it was employees being willing to contribute to make their community a better place for everyone.”