Started as a small business in 1975 by Ed and Aileen Brandsma, Edaleen Dairy in Lynden has retained much of its family orientation as it has grown.

"Employees are treated like family," says Dany Swanson, the company's accounting and human resources manager. "Because Ed and Aileen founded it and brought their children into it, there's a strong family atmosphere. They truly value and appreciate their employees."

It's the idea of bringing people in and taking care of them.

"Ed's line is ‘You take care of the cows, and they'll take care of you.' It's tending to the herd, that kind of thing," Swanson says.

Ed and Aileen still run the company, managing the heifer program, while the human herd has grown to about 100. Two-thirds of the employees work on the dairy farm on Depot Road, near Prairie, and the remainder are in the plant, store and offices on Guide Meridian.

Employees pay only $20 per month for health insurance (medical, dental, vision) that covers them and their families.

"It goes along with that philosophy of taking care of the family," Swanson says.

The company offers a 401(k) plan with a 2 percent match after a year of employment, holds summer barbecues for workers and supplies them with free milk and ice cream.

Herdsmen, milkers and laborers work on the farm while the plant employs processors, assembly line workers, preventative maintenance and quality assurance personnel and drivers.

Entry level employees start at about $10 per hour, and supervisors earn up to $18 an hour. Edaleen has five managers.

CEO Michelle Kitchen, a Tacoma native who has been with the company for two years, says size-wise, "we're between a small business and a corporation."

Growth has been fairly consistent in recent years. "We're trying to diversify our plant," Kitchen says. "We want to make sure the plant is at capacity."

She indicates that Edaleen's relatively remote location, less than a mile from the Canadian border, makes hiring more difficult than at most Whatcom County businesses. When openings occur, managers try to promote from within first, then look outside, locally.

Kitchen seeks people who are "motivated, open-minded and willing to learn." Being a team player is important, as is establishing some longevity in previous employment.

"If someone's skipping around from job to job," she says, "it's a bad sign."

Seeing the big picture helps, too, Swanson says.

The company offers some training to employees, if needed, including seminars and in-house mentoring, and occasionally, consultants are brought in for specific kinds of instruction.

Edaleen has been focusing heavily on customer service concepts, Kitchen says, both external and internal. That emphasizes how employees treat each other.

"If you're dealing with another department," says Kitchen, "think of them as another customer. It's a really good characteristic to have."