Jarden Plastic captures top manufacturer award

Jarden won the 13th annual award handed out by the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce’s Manufacturers Council. Jarden, a maker of plastic products for health care, consumer and sports markets, was also a finalist in 2006, when Ozarks Coca Cola/Dr Pepper Bottling Co. took the honors.

“It’s a much better feeling this year, that’s for sure,” said Dankert, who manages the Springfield facility that’s on pace for about $18 million in sales this year, up from approximately $15 million in 2005.

Jarden was chosen from among finalists Aaron’s Automotive Products Inc. and Springfield Workshop Inc.

The chamber’s manufacturing council chose the companies based on several criteria: business stability and growth; employee development; product development and sustainability; environmental and safety performance; community involvement; and industry analysis.

Jarden Plastic employs 73 people at its Springfield molded plastics facility, 2600 N. Partnership Blvd. It opened in 1973 as Unimark Plastics and is now a division of publicly traded and New York-based Jarden Corp. (NYSE: JAH), which posted $106 million in net income in 2006.

Among the company’s clients are ammunition powerhouse Winchester and computer software giant Microsoft, for which Jarden has been making the plastic cases for Windows Vista and Office discs since 2006.

The Microsoft product line is entirely new, both for Jarden and its client. Most software companies, Dankert said, use cardboard packaging for their software.

While the job required Jarden to create an entirely new mold, Dankert said his company has handled the new work successfully – only 0.3 percent of the product Jarden sends to Microsoft gets returned.

Dankert also cited the company’s focus on workplace safety; Jarden’s Springfield facility has had no lost-time accidents this year.

Dankert will now likely be offered the opportunity to serve as a chamber judge in coming years. Four of the six judges this year represented previous honorees.

Bob Edmonds, who won the award in 2005 with Edmonds Dental Prosthetics and served as a judge this year, said that having former winners as judges offers a unique advantage.

“This year, the finalists were very diverse and sometimes it was difficult to compare apples to apples,” he said. “So having been involved in the process helped the judges to be able to focus and look at the things that really make a difference for those companies.”

Edmonds added that while choosing from among the three finalists was very difficult, Jarden’s growth, such as the Microsoft contract, made the company stand out among the finalists.

“They were finalists last year, but our visit last year was different,” Edmonds said. “Since then, they’ve added a lot of new product lines; they have a lot of contracts now with companies that offer longevity. Their growth looks to be sustainable for the next several years.”

Dankert said last year’s visit was frantic, as the company was just beginning its Microsoft product offering.

“Now we’ve matured that product line a little,” he said. “It goes to show that our team has done an awfully good job, working together the way we needed to get things done.”

Past Manufacturer of the Year Winners

2006 – Ozarks Coca-Cola/Dr Pepper Bottling Co.

2005 – Edmonds Dental Prosthetics

2004 – Megavolt LLC

2003 – 3M Co.

2002 – ReGen Technologies

2001 – The Maiman Co.

2000 – Kraft Foods

1999 – Northrop Grumman Interconnect

1998 – Hiland Dairy Co.

1997 – Hagale Industries

1996 – SMC Packaging Group

1995 – Aaron’s Automotive Products

The Finalists

Jarden Plastic Solutions

Address: 2600 N. Partnership Blvd.

Year established locally: 1973

Local employees: 73

Service: Molded plastic products for health care, consumer and sports markets

Aaron’s Automotive Products Inc.

Local address: 2600 N. Westgate Ave.

Year established locally: 1959

Local employees: 280

Service: Remanufactures light- and medium-duty transmissions for auto manufacturers

Springfield Workshop Inc.

Address: 2835 W. Bennett St.

Year established locally: 1957

Local employees: 348

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