Aavid Thermalloy celebrates retirement of longtime employee

By ALANA PERSSON, LACONIA DAILY SUN

LACONIA — Many laughs, tears, and memories were shared during the retirement celebration of Sundee Dumais, as she closed out her 30 years of service with Aavid Thermalloy.

Standing before friends and family, Dumais exclaimed to the crowd that when began her career with Aavid, she viewed it as a short-term job that would help her learn how to work a computer and become better at mingling with other people.

"Never did I expect to be here more than a few years," said Dumais, "but I can say standing here now that I am so am glad I stayed with the company and didn't venture."

Beginning her career in 1986, she held the position of opening mail and answering the phone. Two years later, she began moving around to additional fields within the company, including the reporting and expediting field, followed by planning, purchasing and production. At the end of her career, Dumais left Aavid as Buyer-Planner within production control.

"Every day at work has been a good and fun day, because the people I had the opportunity to work with made the experience excellent," said Dumais.

Fellow employees at Aavid took time to share memories and thank Dumais for her outstanding service to the company. Co-workers declared Dumais as the "unsung hero" of the company, recognizing her as the engine behind various behind the scenes efforts that have ensured great customer satisfaction over the years.

In addition to the kind sentiments shared, Dumais received a custom birdbath from the production floor, which was inscribed with a meaningful message from the staff. Additionally, Dumais received a monetary gift as a thanks for her years of service by President and Chief Executive Officer Alan Wong.

Officials at Aavid expressed that Dumais was one of many long-term employees working for the company, as over 50 percent of employees have been working for more than 10 years.

"We are very fortunate to have such a dedicated workforce and a high retention rate of employees," said Norman Soucy, vice president and general manager of the Global Transportation and Industrial Systems Division. "It is with great satisfaction that we see employees retire, as we are fortunate they have had a place of employment for a long period of time."

By the end of the 2016 year, Aavid will employ 16 people who have been working between 30 and 44 years for the company, 49 people between 20 and 29 years, and 23 people who have been with the company between 10 and 19 years.

Norman Laramie, Dave Lacroix, Sundee Dumais, Lisa Druin and Norman Soucy gather as Dumais is wished a happy retirement. (Alana Persson/Laconia Daily Sun)