bb7 is a Brilliant Product Development Firm with a ‘Cool Workspace’
The Capital Times declares bb7 a ‘cool workspace’ in The following article that showcases our office, team, culture and internal projects.
Buzzing with activity: ‘Cool Workspace’ bb7 has busy bees, a wireless system to go with them
When you walk into local product development firm bb7, 5407 Fen Oak Drive, you’re offered some “flair”: a magnetic bee pin to clip to your lapel.
The gold bottlecap pin is harbinger of what’s to come — a steady hum of activity (some of it from heavy machinery) and a slew of employees plugging away at very disparate tasks.
A product team evaluating foam models.
bb7’s offices are an expanse of winding hallways lined with their products, including glasses dentists wear to illuminate and magnify patient’s mouths and a medical device that delivers nitric oxide to patients. Those hallways lead to cubicles, cavernous work rooms and quirky shared workspaces.
bb7’s wireless beehive monitor, WiHive
The product development firm, which has about 100 full-time employees, was formed in 2010 when two area firms, Bjorksten Research Laboratories, a wide-ranging product development firm, merged with BIT 7, a firm that specialized in electrical and mechanical engineering.
In September, the company was named to the “Inc. 5000,” Inc. magazine’s annual list of the fastest-growing private companies in the country, clocking in at number 3,378.
Though employees often have their nose to the grindstone doing serious work (there are “confidential” blankets strewn over a variety of products throughout the space), they make some time for fun, said Maggie Graham, marketing manager for the company.
The Bjorktones, a seven-piece band comprised of employees, perform at office events (“Because why not have a company band?” Graham said). There are also chili cook-offs and big wheel races. The prize for the latter is a life-sized, gold-painted big wheel.
A golden big wheel from our big wheel races
Company employees, who have done things like work on subatomic particle testing equipment in Antarctica, also recently rebuilt a 1960 Studebaker as an electric truck. They did the work in their spare and after hours, geeking out on the ability to transform a retro-classic into a modern machine.
Peter tinkering with the Studebaker we transformed into an electric truck
Walking the line between work and play, the company debuted a wireless beehive monitor for their on-site bees last month. Called “WiHive,” the monitor provides web access to real-time data about bb7’s beehives, including information on temperature, humidity and an audio feed.
The company has also released Bee Werx, a rye beer brewed with honey from bb7 bees.
The spirit of whimsy evident in these products is clear even when walking through the most serious of workspaces at bb7. The cubicles that house engineers are often draped with yellow caution tape, Graham said, to signify that occupants who work therein really, really shouldn’t be disturbed.
Graham oftens credits various employees with “saving the world.”)
After passing through the caution tape area, one ends up in the creative team’s portion of the building.
That space features model airplanes, piloted by flyaway-haired Barbies (visible if one stands on tip-toe). There are also a pair of vintage Mobil gas pumps decorating the space, and a massive, rusting hotel sign suspended in midair.
The creative space at bb7
The arrow-shaped hotel sign was “pilfered — as it should have been,” after being abandoned and discovered by bb7 staff, Graham joked.
“Pilfered” sign or not, it’s clear the bb7 team doesn’t need to steal much. Their ‘cool workspace’ is brimming over with homegrown character, from bee “flair” to the WiHive and beyond.
Originally published by The Capital Times (Madison, WI) on November 10, 2015. Written by Laurel White.
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