Welcome to Britz & Company
Our Mission StatementWe Enrich the Lives of Animal and Humans by providing innovative solutions to the biomedical research and animal care industries.
OUR VALUES
One of the qualities we value at BH is the ability and willingness to change; to seek opportunities to do things differently or implement innovative approaches to problems.
When this company started, the founders set out on a mission to change the animal housing paradigm and focus on enrichment and ergonomics. We believe our products go far beyond simple housing and husbandry issues.
We have always been grateful for the open and honest communication customers have given us. Our housing solutions have evolved over time, and we appreciate honest and constructive feedback. We hope that we have listened well and have responded accordingly.
We are always striving to provide a quality product. We continue to drive processes in our plant so that what we deliver to the customer will go far beyond expectations. While we have always provided a “1-year warranty” on our products, we have been known to go well beyond that in many cases. In fact, we expect to go beyond the standard 1-year warranty, because we want our customers to be satisfied with us for a lifetime.
Over the past few years, we have been developing our statement of values. Our mission remains the same, but we have corralled and defined a set of values that guide our behaviors. Ultimately, we want to grow our company so that we can better serve the lab animal industry. The following is the Statement of Values for BH.
As an organization, we Value:
Partners
Identifying opportunities and taking action to build strategic relationships between one’s area and other areas, teams, departments, customers, vendors, or organizations to help achieve business goals.
Quality
Accomplishing tasks by considering all areas involved, no matter how small; showing concern for all aspects of the job; accurately checking processes and tasks; and, being watchful for total quality.
Change
Encouraging others to seek opportunities for different and innovative approaches to addressing problems and opportunities; facilitating the implementation and acceptance of change both within and outside of the company.
Action
Taking prompt action to accomplish objectives; taking action to achieve goals beyond what is required; being proactive and exceeding our partner’s expectations.
Communication
Clearly conveying information and ideas to individuals or groups in a manner that engages them and helps them understand and retain the message. Listening effectively and asking clarifying questions. Actively seeking input from others and seeking to be the first to understand.
Our History
You Can Trust Us; WE ACTUALLY ARE ROCKET SCIENTISTS
Dr. Britz
Do a quick Google search for “Ham the Space Chimp” and you’ll come across this picture. That clean-cut man in the white lab coat? That’s our own Dr. Bill Britz!
We are very proud of our Founder’s early veterinary work with the chimpanzees that supported the early American space program. Dr. Britz has some great anecdotes about the Mercury program and the colony of chimpanzees that was located at the Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico.
Dr. Britz remembers the infant animals coming from Africa were in generally poor health. One night, unable to separate two animals that had latched on to each other, he put them into a single cage together. The next morning, he found both animals “bright-eyed and bushy-tailed,” happy to greet him. As a result of this experience, Dr. Britz became an early advocate of social housing for NHP’s. He felt that putting them together saved the two animals.
Bill Britz
That serious-looking young man in the center of the photo below is our CEO and President, Bill Britz (“the younger”). After receiving a degree in Astrophysics, young Bill went to work for NASA at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Bill became a Space Shuttle Flight Dynamics Officer (call sign “FiDO”). which was a Mission Control Front Room specialist that reported immediately to the Flight Director.
The FDO was responsible for the Space Shuttle’s flight path from launch to landing. Bill supported many Space Shuttle missions, but is most proud of his work as the Lead FDO for STS-80. A difficult and challenging mission, Bill was selected as the MVP of the Flight Control team and received the honor of hanging the mission plaque on the wall in the control room. The plaque remains on the wall today.