What makes $16 billion a year without producing anything?

Although it sounds like a riddle, the answer is actually quite simple: Avnet, Inc.

Avnet Logistics

Avnet manufactures nothing, yet we play an important role in the technology industry, helping customers not only purchase more than 300,000 types of electronic parts as well as a host of enterprise computing and storage products and embedded systems, but also design, assemble, program, configure, ship and market our suppliers’ products around the world.

What began with 33-year-old Russian immigrant Charles Avnet buying and selling surplus radio parts in 1921 has snowballed into a company with 12,000 employees in more than 70 countries around the world..

Avnet CEO Roy Vallee

Today, Avnet is one of the world’s largest industrial distributors, ranking No. 144 on the Fortune 500. But what the company is even prouder of is its inclusion in the same publication’s list of Most Admired Companies, where we ranked first in our industry.

Why is Avnet admired?
"Being named the most admired company in our industry is a distinct honor and huge tribute to Avnet’s talented team of employees around the world," says Roy Vallee, Avnet chairman and CEO. "We have been consistently investing in building a premier organization that delivers superior value and accelerates the success of our trading partners."

Avnet Core Values

Delivering the highest value to customers, suppliers, employees and shareholders is the company’s vision, but how Avnet achieves it is what makes us a Most Admired Company. Integrity tops Avnet’s list of core values – followed by customer service, accountability, teamwork and innovation – demonstrating the high ethical standard for all employees around the world.

Veronica Biggins member of Avnet's board of directors since 1997

“Avnet has always focused on ethics, but it now has one of the strongest ethics programs I’ve seen – one other companies could and should copy,” says Veronica Biggins, partner at HNCL Search and a member of Avnet’s board of directors since 1997. “Although it operates in many countries and some cultures view ethics differently, Avnet is committed to adhering to its ethical rules in every location.”

In addition to signing a Code of Conduct, employees receive training on how to recognize and manage ethical challenges. “I haven’t seen other companies dedicate as much time to ethics,” says David Birk, Avnet’s chief legal officer. “Devoting so much attention to it demonstrates a real commitment from Avnet leadership.”

Likewise, Avnet is committed to being a good corporate citizen, with a well-established community affairs program focusing on education and children’s issues. Since relocating from New York to Arizona in 1998, we have contributed more than $6 million dollars to Arizona organizations. Additionally, in a time when the job market is at its most competitive, Avnet created and sponsors the Avnet Tech Games, an annual competition that helps Arizona college students obtain real-world experience and scholarships.

Beyond championing education and children’s causes, Avnet also encourages employees to get involved in their communities through a program called Dollars for Doers, which provides cash grants to nonprofit organizations where our employees volunteer.

“Avnet has a history of good corporate citizenship, and Dollars for Doers demonstrates its commitment to support employees in their efforts to help the nonprofits that are important to them,” says Priscilla Kadi, director of product segment materials operations at Avnet Technology Solutions and president of the Avnet Cares Governing Board. “The program also encourages them to volunteer during a time when these organizations need it most because of declining donations.”

Avnet employees not only give time and money to Arizona, but also serve in a variety of leadership roles. CEO and chairman Roy Vallee serves on Arizona State University’s advisory board and was co-chair of Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano’s Council on Innovation and Technology. Other executives serve on the boards of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, Arizona Business Accelerators, Arizona Governor’s Advisory Council on Quality, Arizona Quality Alliance and a host of industry and philanthropic organizations.

Clearly, Avnet is a strong, reputable company. But what exactly do our employees do all day?

What does Avnet do, anyway?

From each, the components or assembled equipment are shipped to customers around the world. But that’s not where Avnet transactions begin, nor do they always originate from orders placed online, by email, or with account managers. Instead, they often start with Avnet engineers who work with companies to help them design a product and determine which parts will work best.

Many transactions can also be traced to Avnet’s variety of lead generation and marketing programs, which include events and other efforts to help customers reach new markets. Additionally, Avnet provides extensive training to its customers’ engineering and sales teams; via workshops, seminars and Webinars, employees involved in these efforts train thousands of people each year on the latest technologies and sales techniques.

Other employees don’t interact with customers but perform a role just as vital – keeping the company up and running around the clock 365 days a year. Because computer systems are essential for quoting, ordering, shipping and communicating, Avnet cannot afford disruption. Fortunately, Avnet has a state-of-the-art command center, where employees monitor all of the company’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems used around the world. The command center, which is adjacent to several rooms filled with servers and storage equipment, looks a lot like NASA’s mission control room – or at least how Hollywood directors depict it!

Of course, a visit to our Phoenix headquarters wouldn’t be complete without stopping by the Avnet Technology Museum, a showcase of more than 100 consumer and business technology products developed throughout the past 90 years, memorabilia from Avnet and other companies that played important roles in the evolution of the technology industry, and a number of related historic documents and photographs. Admission is free, and virtual tours of the museum are also available online in a 3-D recreation at Second Life.

But no matter whether you walk into Avnet’s local offices in Phoenix, Tempe and Chandler, or one of more than 300 other locations around the world, the atmosphere is much the same – in part because each facility has the same posters on its walls. Although often translated into different languages, the posters on the walls describing Avnet’s core values or showcasing successful IT, operational excellence and innovation projects reflect the tremendous pride our employees have in the company and the work we do.

Why work at Avnet?
Today, an employee who stays with the same company throughout his or her entire career is about as easy to find as the Loch Ness Monster or Bigfoot, yet Avnet has more than its fair share. In fact, more than 300 employees around the world have been with the company – or one of its acquired companies – for at least 25 years, and recently one even hit the big 5-0.

2008 Avnet Interns

Just as it was 50 years ago, Avnet is still a great place to start your career, especially through our paid summer internships, project-based internships, part-time work opportunities and co-ops. Each year, an average of two dozen students from around the country participate in our summer internship program, rotating through various positions and working on projects tied to current business objectives. One aspect our interns enjoy most is interacting with company executives, who participate in lunch and learn meetings with interns and also critique the project presentations interns give at the end of the summer.

“Although the entire Avnet internship was an incredible experience, the most memorable aspect was the one-on-one time spent with managers and executives,” says Brittany Allemann, now a program manager for Avnet Technology Solutions after interning at Avnet in 2007. “They provided personal and work-related advice that will guide my entire career.”

Another way the company helps guide employees’ careers is through extensive training and development. Employees create development plans with their managers, and in addition to offering more than 1,500 e-learning courses, Avnet provides a variety of cross-functional, cross-regional and cross-group opportunities that benefit individuals as well as the company.

“At Avnet, 60 percent of performance improvement comes from on-the-job challenges, including short-term rotational and long-term expatriate assignments,” says Steve Church, chief operational excellence officer. “Not only do our employees learn about other cultures and ways of doing business, but they also bring a different perspective to the offices and departments they visit, resulting in improved teamwork.”

When asked about their favorite benefits, many employees place our Job Flex program at the top of their lists. In fact, 90 percent of employees in Avnet Electronics Marketing’s supply chain department participate in the program, which includes options for telecommuting, compressed work weeks and flexible start and stop times.

“The flexibility we offer is what keeps our employees here,” says Debra Redstrom, manager of supply chain services and who telecommutes two days a week. “The Job Flex Program is a benefit that doesn’t cost Avnet anything but does a lot of good – morale is definitely higher, and people actually work more because they are happier.”

Avnet Customer Service Week slogan 2008

As hard as Avnet employees work, we also have a lot of fun. Visit our Phoenix facilities during National Customer Service Week in October and you’ll see employees racing down the hallway on tricycles or building enormous Lego bridges. Our decorated cubicles and offices at Halloween rival elaborate production sets, and there always seems to be a cook-off or baking competition happening – often to raise money for charity. Avnet also sponsors an annual 16-inch softball tournament, where our teams go to bat for local youth sports programs by playing teams from other Phoenix-area businesses.

As a company operating at the center of the technology industry, Avnet offers a wide variety of careers for students interested in technology and engineering. Check Avnet.com for more information!