People & Places

People &

Places

Keeli Koonse Kyle Bassett Bryan Lawson
Josh Elliott Adam Werynski

Professional Plastics announced several promotions and new hires.

Keeli Koonse joined Professional Plastics as territory manager covering Waco, Austin and San Antonio areas in Texas. Koonse is a plastics industry veteran with more than 25 years of experience ranging across many regions and markets, including aerospace and semiconductor. In her new role, Koonse will focus on gaining new business and growing revenue by using her expertise in closing value-added opportunities with higher margins and longer sales cycles.

Professional Plastics welcomed Kyle Bassett as territory manager for Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties in California. Bassett is new to the performance plastics industry and is eager to apply his extensive outside sales skills to promote the company’s entire product portfolio and develop relationships in his territory. He will work with new and existing customers to close sales and increase business.

Professional Plastics recently promoted Bryan Lawson as the new business manager of the Denver, CO, USA branch. Lawson is responsible for managing day-to-day functions of the branch and developing sales and operations to sustain continuous growth. His determination and a diligent work ethic set him apart as a territory manager in the Denver market for the last 4 ½ years and he is looks forward to helping establish the branch as a leader within the company.

Josh Elliott was named the new inside sales manager for the Professional Plastics branch in Denver, CO, USA. Elliott has been a top contributor for the company for more than 16 years, routinely ranked among the top inside sales representatives. He is organized and efficient with an industrious approach to his work. Elliott is primed for his transition into a leadership role where he can help others maximize their success as sales professionals.

Professional Plastics promoted Adam Werynski to production manager in Atlanta, GA, USA. After serving as an engineer and CNC programmer in the company’s Buffalo, NY, USA branch, Werynski relocated to Atlanta for his new position where he is responsible for managing the location’s windshield production. He is excited about his new role and looks forward to helping the Atlanta branch grow.

Scott
Hrach

HP Manufacturing Co., Inc. promoted Scott Hrach to director of operations. Hrach has been a part of the operations team since 2014. In his new role, he will oversee all operational activities with an emphasis on the company’s lean and capability improvement initiatives.

Hrach has more than 30 years of manufacturing experience serving in various leadership roles, including plant and operational controller, world class manufacturing site coordinator and vice president of operations. He earned a Six Sigma Greenbelt, leading teams focused on reducing manufacturing variation and facilitated many Kaizen events that generated operational savings through waste reduction. Hrach earned a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from the University of Akron as well as an MBA from Tiffin University.

Zac
Melchiorre

HP Manufacturing Co., Inc. promoted Zac Melchiorre to sales and marketing manager. Melchiorre has held many different roles within the sales team since 2014. In his new role, he will be leading the sales team in all five markets segments of HP Manufacturing, as well as the marketing activities to help drive growth for the organization.

Melchiorre recently joined the IAPD Marketing Committee and will contribute his talents to their work. he holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in entrepreneurship from Kent State University and an MBA with a concentration in finance from Tiffin University.

Nicholas
Gavigan

Redwood Plastics and Rubber announced that Nicholas Gavigan is now director of sales for Canada. Following a stint in the banking industry, Gavigan began his career at Redwood Plastics and Rubber as an outside sales representative in 2016. His natural leadership style built lasting relationships with customers and colleagues. His high expectation for himself and those around him made for a natural transition to business development manager at the company’s Langley, BC, Canada facility.

“I am excited to see Nicholas expand his responsibility to include all of Canada, continuing to build a culture of collaboration and teamwork that will only accelerate our sales success. I’m looking forward to Nic leading our Canadian team’s growing success in both new and existing markets,” said Dale Delmage, vice president of sales.

Vycom expanded its recycling program to include on-site collection of PVC, acrylic and PE products at the ISA International Sign Expo show held in Atlanta, GA, USA May 4-6, 2022. During the expo, collection bins were stationed around the show floor to gather PVC, acrylic and PE materials that would usually end up in a dumpster, destined for a landfill. Working with Freeman Exhibitions, the official event services provider for ISA International Sign Expo 2022, along with the Georgia World Congress Center and the International Sign Association, printed and unprinted sheets — with or without attached vinyl — were collected from the bins and picked up by Return Polymers, an affiliate of The AZEK Company and a leader in PVC recycling and compounding. The scrap was reprocessed into the company’s residential and commercial products, ensuring these materials do not end up in landfills.

“We appreciate the initiative that Vycom has taken regarding sustainability in our industry,” said Marisa Heller, sustainability manager at Freeman. “We recognize that exhibitions are big users of PVC and acrylic materials that generate a lot of waste, and we were looking for a zero-landfill solution. The Vycom Recycling Program ticks all the boxes of bin supply and material collection, making it easy for us to implement and it enables us to continue our goal of being good land stewards by diverting plastic materials from landfills.”

GF Piping Systems earned Intel’s EPIC Distinguished Supplier Award through its dedication to excellence, partnership, inclusion and continuous quality improvement. The Intel EPIC Distinguished Supplier Award recognizes a consistent level of strong performance across all criteria. Of the thousands of Intel suppliers around the world, only a few hundred qualify to participate in the EPIC Supplier Program. The EPIC Distinguished Award is the second-highest honor a supplier can achieve. In 2022, only 26 suppliers in the Intel supply chain network earned this award. To qualify for an Intel EPIC Distinguished Supplier Award, suppliers must exceed expectations, meet aggressive performance goals and score 80 percent or higher in performance assessments throughout the year. Suppliers must also meet 80 percent or more of their improvement plan deliverables and demonstrate formidable quality and business systems.

“As one of only 26 Distinguished Supplier Award recipients across the Intel global supply chain, GF Piping Systems has been crucial to Intel’s success while offering agility and flexibility during the ongoing volatile supply chain environment,” said Intel EVP and Chief Global Operations Officer Keyvan Esfarjani. “They have provided exceptional collaboration and commitment toward safety, quality, diversity and inclusion and exceeded our expectations in support of Intel’s supply chain operational excellence. Earning this award speaks to their dedication to Intel values and their partnership.”

A&C Plastics is thrilled to announce that they were ranked in the Inc 5000 Regional Southwest 2022 list, the most prestigious ranking of the fastest-growing companies in the southwestern United States. They would like to thank all their customers and hardworking team members for helping this honor become a reality.

Rowmark, LLC, in conjunction with non-profit workforce development organization Raise the Bar, participated in Manufacturing Week May 9 -12, 2022. Manufacturing Week is for all 8th grade students in Findlay and Hancock County, OH, USA schools, and gives them an opportunity to learn about potential career opportunities in production, warehousing and other manufacturing settings.

Plastic sheet manufacturer Rowmark has participated in Manufacturing Week since its inception in 2017. This year, nearly 1,000 students toured the Rowmark facility during the week-long event, learning about the process of plastic sheet extrusion, shipping and logistics and fabrication.

“We’re proud to be one of the primary hosts for this event,” said Rowmark President Eric Hausserman. “The students get to learn about rewarding careers in manufacturing, and they get to see the products that we make here in their backyard that are used all over the world. It’s a fun event for them and us, and we look forward to it each year.”

Curbell Plastics, Inc. moved their Chicago operations to a new, larger facility at 8201 109th Street, Suite 300, Pleasant Prairie, WI. Among the changes, the new location provides twice the storage space with a larger warehouse that houses increased inventory and more customer-specific materials.

“It’s a more functional warehouse,” said Dallas McLaughlin, regional director. “The improved functionality offers efficiencies that will help us serve our industrial and orthotic and prosthetic customers’ growing needs.”

The space allows for future growth and improved fabrication capabilities. The location, between Chicago and Milwaukee, has increased access to major expressways and the company’s growing Wisconsin and Midwest markets.

It’s not about the when and where, it’s about the love two people share…Polymer Industries Inside Sales Representative Doris Davidson only intended to have her marriage paperwork notarized on Friday, May 13 but her co-workers had a different idea: an office wedding. The happy couple were treated to a wedding reception surrounded by her co-workers (also a real surprise for the groom who thought he was signing a piece of paper to be legally married). IAPD President Deborah Ragsdale notarized the paperwork and even wrote a wedding poem for the happy couple. Congratulations and best wishes to Marcus and Doris Swank and Best Wishes!

On January 19th, 2022, IPEX signed a stock purchase agreement to acquire all the shares of The Harrington Corporation (HARCO), a Virginia-based manufacturer of gasketed fittings in the municipal, irrigation and agriculture markets. The acquisition was official as of April 1. With 55 years of industry expertise and manufacturing facilities in Lynchburg, VA, USA; Janesville, WI, USA; Bellingham, WA, USA; and Stevensville, MT, USA, HARCO’S product offering, dedication to its customers and company values are all complementary to IPEX, according to the company. HARCO will be integrated within IPEX which will result in an expanded product portfolio to a broader customer base.

C.R. Onsrud, manufacturer of CNC machining centers, held its annual Factory Demo Day on Wednesday, March 30, 2022. More than 170 prospective customers and distributors toured the state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, saw live machinery demonstrations, attended educational CNC seminars and had direct access Q&A with Onsrud CNC experts during this event.

Among C.R. Onsrud’s demonstrations were 3-Axis, 4-Axis and 5-Axis CNC machining and routing, friction stir welding, pendulum processing and routing. In addition, they covered a broad array of materials including plywood, aluminum and composites. They also held multiple education seminars on part holding, machine monitoring, tooling and aggregates. “Our goal was to impart knowledge about a few areas that could really improve a business’s manufacturing processes if done correctly,” said speaker and Marketing Brand Manager Greg Moores. C.R. Onsrud plans to expand their program by inviting vendors in future years.

If you were unable to attend, you can see C.R. Onsrud machines in action on their YouTube channel: https://info.cronsrud.com/e/62182/cronsrud/3tjbwhh/1094951684?h=DbnYIG4OSijViI7h-mr4I_ZSdxTwLfgTql3OvbGPOZs.

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