Continued from page 10 included his older son and twins , a boy and girl - moved to Germany , where he had to learn German .
Although not fluent , he said , “ I love the language , I love the culture , I love the people .”
The job with Chrysler eventually led him full circle - back to India , where he was tasked with establishing new suppliers for the car maker . “ The company was basically paying me to set up the company in India ,” he said . Padmanabhan said they didn ’ t expect to stay long - maybe two years - but being close to his parents for that time had given them the support he and his wife needed in raising their children .
When the assignment came to an end , he said they had a choice of bringing his parents with them or staying in India . With his parents aging , “ I just didn ’ t have the heart to do it ,” he said . “ It was a bit like paying back my parents and not asking them to move .”
Padmanabhan and his wife worked for several different companies in India . “ From the stability of GM , every two or three years I did something new ,” he said . He ran a motorcycle company , a mine , an electronics company and an electric scooter start up that he set up with only women operators .
“ I grew up around really , really strong women ,” he said . “ I find it just horrendous that women have anything less than an equal take on life . In my limited life , in my limited existence , I want to give an unreasonable opportunity for women to fix things .”
That carries over into Rehau , where more than 50 percent of the employees are women ; some of whom have been with the company since it first opened in Cullman .
One of the Chrysler suppliers Padmanabhan previously worked with contacted him about a plant he was opening in Tuscaloosa , and asked him to go check it out .
He had a few days in Tuscaloosa before the meeting at the plant , so he went for a walk . “ Walking on Alabama ’ s campus is like the art of seduction ,” he said . “ It ’ s just gorgeous .”
On a whim , he stopped by the International Office . “ Until this point , I ’ m of the opinion that no one gets undergraduate scholarships in the U . S ., it ’ s not even possible ,” he said . Still , he asked if there were any scholarships available for students from India . “ She said , ‘ just have them take
" If you ask the people who work here , they say , ' We love the people we work with .' People take care of each other on the floor . I ' ve worked manufacturing around the world and that is precious and that is rare . As a new plant manager , I have to be very careful that I don ' t mess that up ."
the SAT and if they hit this number in the SAT , and this number in this , they can get a full ride ,’” he said . “ Nothing came from the trip or anything , but now I had this bug in my head , wouldn ’ t it be nice if my kids could go there .”
Eventually , the twins took the SAT and sent the results to the University of Alabama , and within minutes , they ’ d been offered full scholarships . “ People don ’ t realize the generosity of the American system ,” he said . “ Who gives out money like that ?”
Padmanabhan and his wife knew they wanted to accompany their children to Alabama , but there wasn ’ t a job for them here . “ It was a story of so much providence ,” he said . “ I wrote back to the owner of the company and said that even though the visit didn ’ t end up with [ a job ], but look , because of that visit the kids ended up with scholarships .”
The man replied with a job offer in Tuscaloosa . Padmanabhan worked for the company for two years , working 17 hours a day . “ It was like a monster that had to be fed ,” he said .
At the same time , Rehau ’ s previous plant manager Albert von Pelser , was looking to change jobs within the company . Padmanabhan interviewed for the position , and started with Rehau in January .
Drawing on his background in Catholic schools , he said , “ Rehau feels a bit like my first ministry , where if I can take care of the future of the people , in these times of the pandemic , with the stress , the best that anybody can do is be a good boss . Care about the wellbeing and happiness of your people , and if you did that , you ’ d be doing your piece of service needed .”
He said his goal for the next 10-15 years is to build the business , provide job security and good working conditions for the 600 Rehau employees , many of whom have been with the company for 20 years .
“ If you ask the people who work here , they say , ‘ We love the people we work with ,’” he said . “ People take care of each other on the floor . I ’ ve worked manufacturing around the world and that is precious and that is rare .”
“ As a new plant manager , I have to be very careful that I don ’ t mess that up ,” he added . Padmanabhan also wants to be a contributor to the community .
“ For all this generosity from everyone else , I ’ m going to go mad if I can ’ t meaningfully give back . That would be criminal ,” he said . S
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Salute 2020