Business View Magazine | June 2019

87 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE JUNE 2019 "And when it comes to new product development, most of our suppliers bring it to us first, so we can articulate what value the material may have in the industry. Again, we are more nimble and can do things faster than the larger guys. BVM: Getting back to the Meridian acquisition: how will your new parent company help fuel your growth? Thompson: “Meridian will make future acquisitions that will only enhance what our group is already doing. So, our piece of the puzzle is the paper packaging, tapes/labels, converting and gypsum area. We will go out and acquire companies and people that will enhance our business – either a competitor, or a supplier – and that will help garner us additional benefits to serve our customers. As an example: some of our hot-melt is actually toll-manufactured, today. If we go buy that toll manufacturer, that’s going to enhance our business. There are four companies, today. The platform is scheduled to have ten to twelve companies. There’s another company being acquired in the next 90 days. So, essentially, we’re already half way to where we want to grow this platform. Being part of Meridian allows us to have the resources to do that, without putting our business in financial jeopardy. I can’t tell you how pleased we are to be part of the Meridian Group because of that. We are well managed from Meridian and we have a very solid plan moving forward.” BVM: Where do you see Evans Adhesives several years up the road? Thompson: “I think we will have positioned Evans Adhesives and the Meridian Group, and the related companies that we’ll acquire over the next five years, as a solid, number three player in the U.S.. We’ve got the ability to capture some market share because of our customer service, our ability to be more competitive as we get larger, and, of course, our people and our experience. We have access to new technologies and development with our diverse platform. We can compete and we have good people to make it all happen. It should be a great ride!” THE EVANS ADHES I VE CORPORAT ION