Published: January 14, 2014 3:13 pm ET
Updated: January 14, 2014 5:46 pm ET
Ten diverse companies have earned recognition as a "best place to work" in Plastics News' inaugural awards program designed to identify and honor the U.S. and Canadian plastics industry's best employers.
The honorees include a bottle blow molder, a compounder, a profile extruder, various toolmakers and custom injection molders. They hail from California, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana, and the number of employees in these firms range from 22 to more than 1,700. All will be honored — and their Top 10 ranking revealed — at the Feb. 23-26 Plastics News Executive Forum in Tampa, Fla.
In alphabetical order, the winners are:
• B&B Molders LLC of Mishawaka, Ind. (mold maker);
• Extreme Tool & Engineering Inc. of Wakefield, Mich. (mold maker);
• Forecast 3D of Carlsbad, Calif. (prototype tooling and custom short-run parts);
• Micro Mold Co. Inc. of Erie, Pa. (mold maker);
• Niagara Bottling of Ontario, Calif. (blow molder);
• Plastic Components Inc. of Germantown, Wis. (injection molder);
• Plastikos Inc. of Erie, Pa. (injection molder);
• Reschcor of Elkhart, Ind. (profile extruder);
• Team 1 Plastics Inc. of Albion, Mich. (injection molder); and
• Techmer PM LLC of Rancho Dominguez, Calif. (compounder)
The following types of companies were eligible to enter: plastics processors of any type, plastics recyclers, compounders, and tool or mold makers with at least 15 employees in the United States or Canada. Entrants must have been in business for at least one year and must derive at least half of their income from plastics operations.
Harrisburg, Pa.-based Best Companies Group, which oversees dozens of such programs across North America and beyond, independently manages all aspects of the project. BCG gathers the information and does the judging using an extensive, proven set of criteria. It solicits employee and management input via very detailed, separate surveys. The employer survey responses count for 25 percent of the grading, and the employee feedback accounts for 75 percent.
No one sees those employee survey results except the firm's senior management. This allows management to obtain the honest, anonymous feedback from their employees after the survey closes. Firms pay nothing to participate. BCG compiles and assesses information on subjects such as leadership and planning; corporate culture and communication; role satisfaction; work environment; relationship between employee and supervisor; training and development; and pay and benefits.
More details about the program can be seen at BestPlacesToWorkPlastics.com. One also can complete and submit a brief form there indicating interest in participating in the 2015 version of the program. | 
