BUSINESS CONTINUES TO HEAT UP AT ICE

Game Company Humming with Additions to Workforce & Product Line

Coming off the global pandemic, ICE has more than 100 new employees throughout the production facility and reports record back orders across over 17 different product lines. They ask: “Who would have thought 2022 would bring so much growth and incredibly opportunity to our industry?” Things have been humming!” said ICE President Joe Coppola. “Going back to last year, our employment recruiting efforts have never been so aggressive and, finally, we are seeing it pay off. We have added well over 100 people to the workforce across all departments including our woodshop, harnessing, critical assembly, production assembly, purchasing, inventory control, materials handling, accounting, and shipping.

“No doubt many challenges still exist today and in some ways it’s almost as challenging as it was during times of Covid-19, but in a very different way obviously,” he continued. “While the labor market has certainly improved, and we’ve been able to add some really great people to our team, we are now challenged with properly training everyone.” Coppola added that new supply chain, shipping and logistics challenges have arisen as well. “We feel very fortunate to have the largest backorder of games we’ve ever had and we are trying very hard every day not to disappoint our customers –– especially those who’ve been with us for the last 40 years –– with the longer lead times.”

Those lengthy delivery windows have caused some stressful days and nights, he added, but despite the challenges, the company’s top priority remains “quality over quantity” as ICE remains committed to being a premier game manufacturer.

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