Business View Magazine - October 2016 183
that we’re ready for - as soon as that code approval
comes through.”
Lastly, Thompson elaborates upon Herrild’s hope that,
this year, the products that the company has in devel-
opment on the pipe and industrial side, will have grown
to the point where either the present facility will war-
rant expansion, or another one will be added to help
support that growth: “We’re going through a process,
right now, putting together designs for an expansion
of our current facility,” he explains. “We’re getting that
design ready, so that when we are ready to expand, we
have that on the shelf and we can pull the trigger and
get moving on it. We’re waiting on a few large oppor-
tunities, like the oil and gas and a few others to make
sure that those have taken hold and the volumes are
there that warrant a several million-dollar expansion.
We want to make sure that that’s the right decision.
We’ll probably have to make a decision towards the
end of this year, or the spring of next year, depending
on how those projects move forward. And if it doesn’t
happen, that’s okay. We have a lot of good business
opportunities that we’re working on and will continue
to grow.”
Indeed, Teel Plastics is clearly doing better than merely
“okay.” Recently, the company was awarded the pres-
tigious Wisconsin Manufacturer of the Year Award for
2015. It was also named one of the top 25 World Class
Plastic Processors by Plastics Technology Magazine,
this past January. “We’re very proud of that,” Thomp-
son states, unequivocally.
Finally, after reporting on last year’s company goals,
Thompson adds a new one of his own for this coming
year: “My number-one focus is targeting acquisitions
for Teel,” he reveals. “Plastic extrusion companies –
seeing if we can grow the business there or maybe ob-
tain an upgrade in the technology or markets that an-
other company has. We, as a company, have not had
a history of that, but our owner, Jay Smith, has a great
deal of history doing acquisitions. So, it’s an area that
we’re very excited about. We have a plan, now, moving
forward, with a broker that’s going to help us with that
venture and see where that leads us.”
Meanwhile, Teel Plastics will continue to rely on its
ability to combine leading-edge scientific, technical,
