EDITORIAL > by Karen Torres
EDITORIAL > by Ralph Pontillo
Risking It All
40 Years of Inspiring the Competitive Spirit The Business Magazine’s “Risking It All“ section highlights entrepreneurs who make sacrifices to build their businesses in our region. This month, we sat down with Mark Hanaway, a member of the Association’s Board of Governors and vice president of Tech Molded Plastics, an ISO 9001:2000 certified injection molded plastics company based in Meadville, to talk about the experience of growing up as a member of a family owned business. In 1972, Bill and Eva Hanaway started planning the future of Tech Tool & Die, Inc. They had four very young children, very little money, Bill’s experience as a journeyman toolmaker, and a lot of motivation. But after months of dreaming and planning, Tech opened its doors for business in Meadville in 1973. There were only a few used machines on the floor to help shape the future for this young startup. And by the end of the month in January 1973, Bill and Eva began the journey of long days and restless nights to nurture their infant dream.
A recent photo of Scott, Mark, their mother Eva, and Doug Hanaway at their family owned business, Tech Molded Plastics Inc. in Meadville.
Their story is an American story. Tech started as a small tooling and mold-building business in the back of a rented garage. Since then, it has grown to become a key employer in the community with more than 125 employees, a plastics business focused on innovation, training and technology, and a major sponsor of team-based events that inspire the competitive spirit and entrepreneurship — a trait passed from Bill and Eva to their children, who run the business today. “As kids, you don’t receive a paycheck but what you do receive is a sense of responsibility,” explains Tech Molded Plastics Vice President Mark Hanaway, of the lessons he learned from his parents early on. “When it came to getting a bicycle or new tires for bicycles, we had to work odd jobs to get those. You just don’t have the funds or the resources outside when you are reinvesting as a small business, everything goes back into that business.”
Bill Hanaway (shown here) was a journeyman toolmaker who started Tech Tool & Die, Inc. with his wife Eva in 1973.
As the children grew up and took on bigger roles in the business, Mark and his brothers, Scott and Doug, were fortunate in the roles they pursued. Scott grew up as a toolmaker and was into the tooling trade of the business. Mark went the college route and learned the communications and business administration side of the company, while Doug, also a toolmaker, took more interest in plastics processing and learned to be an expert processor. “With that, we had the combination of all three skill sets working in concert toward the common purpose,” notes Mark. “In a lot of family businesses, you have a lot of overlap with individuals in their skill sets where we were very diverse, which then complemented the growth.” The Hanaways say they are equally committed to investing in both technology and their employees. Tech Molded Plastics is one of only a few precision molders in North America that has the ability to train internally for the internationally recognized Master Molder Certification. The company also does a tremendous amount in charitable learning for local colleges and universities that want to expose students to real-world manufacturing.
The company started as a small tooling and mold-building business and is now one of the major employers in Crawford County.
At the heart of Tech, however, the “family dynamic“ is the driving force behind the company’s culture and future success. “We have been very fortunate because we have grown the company as a family business so we design our systems and processes as family friendly,” Mark says. “We are also open to getting people involved with the business as a whole, making sure that we receive insights and inputs to make the company grow. Our people are part of the decision matrix.” Tech’s story is indeed a great lesson of how to best continue a business from one generation to the next. “In our situation, we started out on the ground level where we were cleaning machines at the age of 8 and 9 years old and we were working outside the business as part of being a family concept,” Mark says. “It is just what you did. What I would encourage businesses or small family businesses to do is make sure that they too have at least a year or two of experience working for someone else. Give themselves an opportunity to see business strategies, learning experiences other than just the family business itself.”
Tech specializes in precision, high volume, injection mold design, tooling, production, assembly and packaging of plastic products.
For more information about Tech Molded Plastics, visit www.ttmp.com. July 2013 > www.mbabizmag.com > 5