Spotlight: Picture yourself working for a global company

NORTHFIELD — Greg Bernash never planned to stay in the Lakes Region after he graduated from Gilford High School. But now that he finds himself living in Northfield and working two miles away, he is glad that things worked out the way that they did.

Bernash grew up in Gilmanton, graduated from GHS in 2009, and went to NHTI and then UNH-Manchester for his degree in mechanical engineering. Along the way, he met Cari – they got married earlier this summer – while they were both working at Highland Mountain Bike Park in Northfield.

After he graduated from college, Bernash was living at Cari’s home in Northfield and looking a way to put his new degree to use. A job search revealed a position as a quality engineer at Freudenberg-NOK in Northfield. Bernash hadn’t heard of the company, even though he was living just two miles away.

“It sort of checked all the boxes,” Bernash said. He and Cari are of the adventurous sort, and love to live in a location where they’ve got access to some of the best mountain biking anywhere, are a short drive to the ocean and a reasonable distance from a major city.

So he took the job and found it to be a perfect fit. Freudenberg-NOK’s facility in Northfield manufactures transmission and driveline seals. As a quality engineer, his job was to figure out why products weren’t coming off of the line as they were intended, and to fix the problem. He found it engrossing work.

“This was the first job I ever had where I was like, ‘Wow, where did my day go?’” After a couple of years as a quality engineer, Bernash was promoted to quality manager. He now supervises a team of engineers.

His relatively quick promotion underscores one of the things that he likes about Freudenberg-NOK, an international corporation that has both German and Japanese ownership. The Northfield facility employs about 280 people.

“This is a stable company, it’s a great company to work for, and it is a company that has a lot of opportunity,” Bernash said. He also appreciates the corporate culture at Freudenberg-NOK. “This company is a large, global company that, if you really want to make something of yourself and progress in your career, this is an awesome company to work for… For a young (or old!) professional looking for fulfilment, challenge and a great work environment I’m hard pressed to think of another manufacturing company in the area, or anywhere for that matter, as great as Freudenberg.”

Greg and Cari love to travel – they went to Sun Valley, Idaho for their honeymoon – but whenever they return to Northfield, they are reminded of why they’ve never moved from the Lakes Region.

In central New Hampshire, they have tremendous, year-round outdoor recreation all around them, coupled with a growing and diverse manufacturing industry. Other people have to choose whether they want to live where they work or where they play; in Northfield, Bernash has both.

“To anyone young and predisposed to adventure, this is a good spot to be,” he said.