Pros
Very positive outlook for the future. Ascend is supporting many new ideas to better the company. They have a Wellness team that is gaining budget year after year to support events and healthy challenges; they are finally starting to talk about a flexible work schedule (no new polices as of 8/1/14); and the leadership team is actively looking for growth opportunities for their mid-level experience workforce. Future business outlook looks promising. .
Cons
There seems to be 2-3 members of the plant level leadership team that are part of the old guard and run the show. You better not say anything contrary to any of these key elders or your career will be stalled and phased out. Slow moving company with regard to change -- however they are at least moving in the direction of change. For example, they are just now recognizing need to develop and maintain their 2-6 year employees, just now recognizing need for flexible schedules, more development opportunities between senior engineer and management and more competitive bonuses/salary packages. IT policies are absolutely archaic and impede productivity.