“As my grandfather would always tell us: ‘The No. 1 rule to remember is that it’s all about the people,’” said Tim Miksiewicz, 31, who has been working full time at the company since 2015 in a number of jobs and is now working in project management. “We see ourselves as stewards of East Penn—we’re here to keep the company healthy so it can continue to provide thousands of well-paying jobs, support our community, and do right by our employees and customers."

For the fourth generation, it’s a matter of keeping their grandfather’s and their late mother Sally’s legacies alive. “It’s important that we stay private and family-owned—almost at all costs--morally and ethically,” said Dan, Tim’s twin, who has worked in various departments since college and on the factory floor and is now in Personnel. “It allows us to have a deeper connection to our employees and to make decisions that are in their interest and in the interest of the company’s long-term future. My grandfather instilled this philosophy in us.”

“East Penn is something we were fortunate to be part of but didn’t build ourselves, so we don’t have a sense of entitlement,” explained Sally’s youngest child, Matt, 26, who moved to Michigan recently. He feels it’s a privilege to help share East Penn values and culture with the lithium battery manufacturer the company acquired and said relations between upper management and the work force in Ann Arbor already is more aligned with the parent company’s culture. “We want employees here to know they can bring concerns and problems to the leadership team. My Mom and grandfather spent a lot of time talking to people on the factory floor and never put themselves above anyone else. We’re all trying to keep that legacy alive. We care about the employees. We want their feedback. We want them to be engaged.”

“What makes me proud is how much the company has grown but remained true to the values instilled by our grandfather—that each employee is important and that the people are No. 1,” said sister Kate Kline, 28, who founded her own baking kit subscription business in 2017, following in her family’s entrepreneurial tradition.

The focus on employees has served East Penn well. For 20 years, it has been named one of the Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania. Forbes called it one of America’s Best Employers. Of the company’s more than 10,000 employees, nearly 40% have worked there for more than 10 years and about a 16% have logged 20 years or more. Some 157 have celebrated more than 40 years with the company, which is the 29th largest employer in the state.

DeLight Jr., a beloved and revered figure described by employees as a man of the people and business visionary, put a priority on innovation, reinvestment in new technology and R&D, and on taking care of his workforce. He was known for chatting with employees, who he knew by name, asking about their families, and how he could improve the company and their jobs.

“He liked to see people promoted and moving up. He would encourage them to grow and try new things,” said DeLight’s son, Dan Breidegam, who has worked at East Penn for nearly 50 years, most recently serving as vice president of metals and commodities management before succeeding his dad as chairman in 2014. He described DeLight as the “Will Rogers of Berks County” because of his kindness, patience, and storytelling prowess, but said his father was “smarter and funnier.”

He was also a family man. Kate said on a typical Saturday when they were kids, her grandfather would bring supplies from the farmers market, Sally would whip up lunch, then he would take the four grandchildren to the family farm for shooting practice. “He was an Air Force vet and taught us about gun safety and how to shoot. He called me Annie Oakley. Here he was running this huge business, but he always made time for us.” She said whenever he saw his grandkids “he would hug us and tell us how proud he was of us. It’s how he was with his employees too—always generous with encouragement and love.”