Sometimes folks hear about Rio’s culture and assume that it’s some kind of commune where we all wear necklaces of dandelions and clover. The fact is the Bell family made the decision long ago to move Rio Grande into participative management because they felt that informed, empowered, and caring associates would create the best solutions, provide the best service, and have the most fun. Read on to find out more. . .
Great Place to Work
An Ethics Award for Rio Grande: One Employee’s Real-Life Tale
Here at Rio, we all strive to do business in ways that honor our customers, community, environment, and one another. Saul Bell founded the company back in 1944 as a small family-run business and, though it has grown to have more than 300 employees and is now a proud member of the Berkshire-Hathaway family of companies, the company is still run by members of the Bell family, and it still feels like a family affair. Recently, we were surprised and elated to be recognized by The Samaritan Counseling Center as a recipient of one of its 15th Annual New Mexico Ethics in Business Awards. The award is based on “high standards and exemplary practices,” something Rio Grande strives for every day of the year.
Inside Rio: A Few of Rio Grande’s Favorite Customer Service Superstars
Our Rio Superstars posts usually focus on the many talented jewelers who work on our technical support team. This week, we thought we would visit a different part of Rio and introduce you to just a few of the superstars from our customer service teams. First-rate customer service is one of the things we pride ourselves on here at Rio, so we are thrilled to introduce you to the people who make it all happen.
Live Your Best Life, Rio-Style
When Albuquerque Business First, a local business journal, named Rio Grande New Mexico’s Healthiest Mid-Sized Employer for the third year in a row, associates were honored and humbled—but not surprised. The goal of Rio Grande’s wellness program is to have a healthier, happier, more productive and successful workforce while controlling health care costs.
Home-Grown Jewelry Design: Associate Saul Bell Design Award
Dozens of talented jewelers and metalsmiths work here at Rio Grande and even though many of them would love to participate in the Saul Bell Design Award Competition, they are not eligible because they are associates of the company. The solution? Our very first ASSOCIATE Saul Bell Design Award Competition! In today’s post take a look at some of the outstanding winners of this inaugural, in-house design competition.
Inside Rio: Machine Operators Read Product Reviews Too!

Recently our website underwent a complete makeover, and one of the coolest updates, in my opinion, are the product review tabs! As a member of the machine operator team, I make some of this stuff, which means that you, the customer, have a direct line to me, the operator. Your product reviews are a powerful and valuable source of information!
Inside Rio: 11 Techniques for Effective Feedback with Framing
Here at Rio, we’ve created an empowered workplace operating within a common set of principles. So we’ve got a challenging yet supportive environment sharing a common set of values, but what about the tools that make our culture work? Effective feedback is among our most useful (and most used) tools around here. In today’s post, Mark shares 11 framing techniques for giving feedback. Try them and tell us what you think!
Inside Rio: Creating a Principled Business
The Principles are Rio Grande’s common value system; the basis for our everyday behavior and decision-making. By using the Principles as our footing, we make the right decision far more consistently. . .
Jump Rings and Coils, Oh My!

At the beginning of May I turned in my box cutter for a T-shaped Allen wrench. I said goodbye to the forklift and hello to the coiler, the hammered ear wire machine, and the eye-pin slider. Let me be plain: I transferred from the Receiving Team to the Machine Operator Team. . .
Inside Rio: Empowerment at Rio Grande
Each individual at Rio must make his or her own choice to be empowered. What we can do is provide an environment that nurtures and supports empowered associates. And so, a number of ideas and sources coalesced into a list of four items critical to achieving empowerment. . .
Rio Grande’s Wellness Program: Supporting Healthier Ways of Living!

At Rio, we started an adventure seven years ago to address the health and wellness of our associates and their families. It started as a program to reduce our rising medical insurance costs and, in the beginning, was a classic first attempt at a new program: It took some time to engage associates and build internal support. Over time, however, our Wellness Program has shown huge improvement and associate involvement has snowballed. In addition to reducing our insurance costs, we’ve benefitted from the positive side effects of healthier associates, including increased productivity and less absenteeism. . .
A Day in the Life of a Rio Tech Support Agent

Occasionally someone asks me, “What’s it like to work in Technical Support at Rio Grande?” Usually my answer is easily summed up by the big grin on my face. Being part of the Tech Support Team is really cool. The job may not be what what one thinks of as a typical tech support position. Although a good part of our day can be spent at our desks answering customer questions, that’s not the only thing we do – not by a long shot. Our fundamental goal is to help customers get the RIGHT tools and supplies and we help them get information they need…