A Family Affair

Apr 1, 2021

Dürr is a family business in its third generation. Some employees are also the third generation to work at Dürr. We introduce two families who want to continue to play an active role in the future of the 125-year-old company.

Thomas family, Southfield/Michigan, USA

The Thomas family from Southfield — Dianna Thomas (front row left) with her sons Kevin (back row left) and Brandon (back row right) and father-in-law James

Dianna Thomas has never regretted joining Dürr Systems as a payroll clerk. She currently heads the department and sometimes can hardly believe that she has been working for the US subsidiary of the German company for 36 years. So why did she start working at Dürr? “One reason is my father-in-law,” she says. He did on-site assembly work for Dürr, installing paint shops in the region’s large car factories. Together with her family, she accompanied him every year to the large picnic that Dürr still organizes for their employees today. “At these events, I got to talk to a lot of people from Dürr families,” the manager remembers. That is how she learned that the company was looking for a payroll clerk. She applied for the job and was accepted. Today, her son also works for Dürr, building paint booths. She smiles. He was two years old when she first took him to a Dürr picnic. “Today, he is 39 and still attends them.” Dianna Thomas and her family are looking forward to keep up this family tradition for many years to come.

From my father-in-law I heard many stories about his work at Dürr

Dianna Thomas , Payroll clerk, Dürr in the USA

Silva family, São Paulo, Brazil

For Carolina Silva, Dürr is an integral part of her life. Even as a toddler, she listened to her grandfather talking about the company – about the times he was away on assembly work, which 40 years ago was very different from today. Later, her father told her about how the processes changed and the company developed. He described new products and explained their functions. “These stories made me get more and more curious. I wanted to find out exactly what it was all about,” says the 25-year-old. She had the opportunity to do so at an open house day for employees and their families. Seeing the big machines and plants fascinated her, she remembers. “At that moment I decided that I wanted to work at Dürr.” She studied hard to get a good degree and was eventually hired by Dürr – in the third generation. “I immersed myself again in the stories my father and grandfather had told me.” The company is now also part of the biography of Carolina Silva, who works as a documentation coordinator. “I am grateful that Dürr has given me and my family the opportunity to achieve professional success and prosperity.”