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“ extremely progressive with her employee pension plans and worker ’ s compensation .” She reportedly introduced these benefits to workers before they were common practice .
Sally Bjork , former project curator of the Bissell Collection , said during a 1991 speech about Anna at the Grand Rapids Public Museum , “ She understood people and treated her employees with respect and fairness .” In the 1890s , Anna added paid vacations and pensions for her workers . According to Bjork , this , in addition to their existing accident and sick leave policy , “ placed the Bissell Carpet Sweeper Company on the forefront of labor relations at the turn of the century .” And during the depression of 1893 , Anna was forced to cut hours , but she refused to lay off any of her employees .
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Anna led through good times , too . Through it all , she was responsible for making the carpet sweeper business an international success . One way in which she did that was through elaborate displays at world ’ s fairs and exhibitions . The Bissell sweeper received gold medals at the 1889 Paris Exposition , the 1900 Paris Exposition , the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo in 1901 and the Japanese Exposition in Osaka in 1903 . It was awarded a grand prize at the Louisiana-Purchase Exposition in St . Louis in 1904 .
During her tenure , Anna expanded operations beyond the United States , with factories in Toronto and Paris and a warehouse and office in London .
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Thanks to Anna ’ s business savvy , Bissell ’ s business made up 85 % of the carpet sweeper trade and 98 % of the toy sweeper trade at the turn of the century , according to the Grand Rapids Herald . The company occupied 158,708 square feet of space , complete with a steam power plant and an independent electric light and power plant .
Being the marketing maven that Anna was , under her leadership , the company distributed 7.5-inch toy sweepers called the
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Grand Rapids Public Museum |