U.S. employees of Materion Corp., the former Brush Engineered Materials, Inc., were quick to help their fellow employees in Japan after hearing of the devastating earthquake and tsunami.

Within a few days, the U.S. employees received word their 38 Japanese colleagues at Materion’s sales office in Tokyo and production facility in Fukaya were safe.

But with the crisis continuing, the employees in Materion’s Elmore and Mayfield Heights facilities in Ohio and the Reading, Pennsylvania facility – who work most closely with the company’s locations in Japan – wanted to help.

Management in the U.S. offered to provide lodging to any Japanese employees and their families who wanted to temporarily relocate to the U.S. To date, none have chosen to move.

When concerns arose about the safety of the Japanese drinking water, two pallets with 370 gallons of bottled water were shipped by air from Reading to the Tokyo and Fukaya facilities.  Three more such shipments have since been delivered.

Materion has also made a corporate donation to the AmeriCares – Japan Disaster Relief Fund and established a mechanism for employee contributions to the fund.

The total combined contributions – corporate and employee – has reached nearly $15,000, according to the company.

“Our hearts went out to our colleagues there, and we are proud of how our U.S. employees have responded,” said W. Glenn Maxwell, president of Materion’s Brush Performance Alloys business. “We know from the messages and photos that we have received from our co-workers in Japan that the assistance is very much appreciated.”

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