Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Plastics News China
  • Rubber & Plastics News
logo-pn-color
Subscribe
  • Login
  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • End Markets
    • FYI Charts
    • LSR World
    • Multimedia
    • NPE2021
    • K Show
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • Special Reports
    • Top materials of injection molders
      Recycled PET use by product category
      US PET, flexible packaging desintations
      Global fluropolymers additives market: CAGR
    • Exhibitors back NPE cancellation: ‘We couldn't take that risk'
      NPE2021 canceled as in-person event
      NPE reviews its options as pandemic prompts exhibitor to exit
      Machine builders meet pressing needs for plastic in 2020
    • Sponsored By ENGEL Machinery
      Tailored maintenance for injection molding machines and robots
      Sponsored By ENGEL Machinery
      Improve maintenance efficiency with e-connect.monitor
      Sponsored By ENGEL Machinery
      Maximum precision for lowest shot weights
      Sponsored By ENGEL Machinery
      Even more cost effectiveness for small precision parts
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • What Keeps You Up At Night
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Videos
    • Galleries
    • Podcasts
    • CEO Issue
    • Best Places to Work
    • Processor of the Year
    • Rising Stars
    • Women Breaking the Mold
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • Heavy Metal
    • One Good Resin
    • BRICS and Plastics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Watching, and hoping, for progress in 2021
      COVID-19 stories dominate 2020 headlines
      Plastic Globes ask: Was there a lighter side in 2020?
      Compounders write a business survival story in 2020
    • Let's get social
      Kickstart: A Corvette crossover? No thanks
      Kickstart: Another push to reduce plastic packaging
      Kickstart: People bought a lot of refrigerators in 2020
    • Heavy Metal: Coronavirus edition, plus the work of working from home
      Don't put off succession planning
      What's a good gift for your cobot? Batteries?
      Here's some big ideas to mull over the holidays
    • Chase expands giving campaign in 2020
      McDivitt will showcase Ascend's COVID-19 work on CNBC's Mad Money
      Move over, Plastic Man: Here comes Plastic Woman
      Star in spotlight with West Virginia philanthropy award
    • The business case for producer responsibility
      Think divided government stalls plastics legislation? Think again
      ACC, NAM eye economic priorities in Biden presidency
      As scrap exports drop, will plastics recycling rate fall?
    • Just how big is thermoforming in North America?
      Changing names for compounders embracing corporate branding
      Diversity the key to outperforming the market
      A timeline of the industry's COVID response
    • Watching, and hoping, for progress in 2021
      The business case for producer responsibility
      Compounders write a business survival story in 2020
      Think divided government stalls plastics legislation? Think again
    • Plastics industry business owners: Listen to your future workforce
      Perspective: ‘Fake news' of a different sort?
      Perspective: Making products in the USA is good for the planet
      Perspective: Reflections on a decade of global industry collaboration on marine litter
    • Modernizing recycling infrastructure will benefit businesses as well as the environment
      Mailbag: Oil-plastics connection is overstated
      Mailbag: Plastics recycling not cost-effective
      Mailbag: Price increases hurting North American PE buyers
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
    • Maintenance can ensure efficient blender operation
      Dosing: Perfect for adding color
      Blending vs dosing: What you need to know
      Going low or high: Comparing volume
    • Colors and custom compounds
      In the laboratory: Compounding solutions
      Recycling content: Resins going ‘green’
      Compounding: Glass and other fillers
    • Dryer maintenance: Don’t err with air
      Dryers: Options for a shop’s process
      Dryer installation: Going central?
      Resins: Hygroscopic or non-hygroscopic
    • Electric injection molding presses: Efficiency is key
      Hydraulic injection molding machines
      Proper maintenance can prevent downtime
      Hybrid injection molding machines
    • Purging Hot runners: Open or closed methods
      Purging extrusion machinery
      Purging extrusion blow molding machines
      Purging: Chemical, abrasive and non-abrasive
    • Controls, special applications boost production, profitability
      Robot maintenance key for smooth operation
      High-speed robots: A rapid way to increase efficiency
      Robots: Every shape and size
    • Maintenance: Key for efficiency
      Shredders: Plastic in pieces
      Safety first for size reduction
      Granulators: The right fit
    • Structural foam molding: Flexibility for processors
      Video: Structural foam molding
    • Mold inventory: How many molds does a shop have?
      Molds: Innovation
      Mold changeover: Saving time and money
      How molds work
    • Labor: Apprenticeships may provide answer
      College training, programs
      Internships: Solving the skills gap in-house
      Lean Six Sigma: Transforming business operation
  • Events
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Ask the Expert
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Reifenhäuser Technologies Livestreams
    • 2020 Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
    • Polymer Points Live - January 2021
      Polymer Points Live - July 2020
      Polymer Points Live - October 2020
      Polymer Points Live - August 2020
    • Plastics in Healthcare 2020
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Plastics in Healthcare
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
  • Resin Prices
    • All Resins
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • Rankings
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Data Store
  • Directory
  • More+
    • Classifieds
    • Digital Edition
    • Newsletters
    • Sponsored Content
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • White Papers
    • Sponsored By Mitsubishi
      Innovative new technology from Mitsubishi Engineering-Plastics Corporation helps reduce emission footprints
      Canon Virginia, Inc.
      Sponsored Content By Canon Virginia, Inc.
      Canon Virginia Inc. brings collaboration to the table
      Sponsored By CDS MACHINES
      Facing medical equipment shortages during COVID-19 outbreak?
      Sponsored Content By Canon Virginia, Inc.
      Transform your molding capabilities with the Canon Shuttle Mold System
    • Sponsored By Conexiom
      Use Sales Order Automation to free up time for CSRs to focus on customers, not manual entry
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
June 20, 2000 02:00 AM

Taking care of business

Joseph Pryweller PLASTICS NEWS STAFF
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Print

    Entrepreneur Sheri Orlowitz recently decided to fulfill a dream of owning her own manufacturing company.

    But after giving a bank two shots at approving her financing with agreeable terms, she ended up walking away. Fortunately for her, another bank gave her a fairer shake, she said.

    "The [first] bank wouldn't have offered the same package to a man at the point of discussions we were in," said Orlowitz, who owns manufacturing holding company Shan Industries LLC of Hamburg, N.J. "My whole life, I've borrowed millions of dollars. I knew that the deal they presented me was not acceptable."

    In January, Orlowitz acquired Broken Arrow, Okla.-based rotational molder Armin Thermodynamics and steel processor Accurate Forming, launching a business with combined sales projected at about $17 million for this year.

    Orlowitz said the playing field is not level yet for women entering plastics, even compared with other minorities.

    Conversations with the women owners of close to two-dozen plastics companies and industry experts revealed roadblocks similar to Orlowitz's. Securing bank loans, especially for large amounts, can be a source of consternation.

    And major corporations and government agencies have been slow to meet — or even set — specific targets to buy goods from woman-owned companies. In fact, even identifying those processors can be a challenge: Certification of woman-owned businesses is just starting to gain force.

    Those factors — and the late entry of many women to college engineering programs — contribute to an arid landscape for woman-owned processors. Less than a dozen woman-owned plastics companies in North America have sales of more than $10 million annually, and the total number of companies is few.

    Numbers are climbing for women business owners in other industries, especially for nontraditional and service occupations. And almost 22 percent of plastic and metal machine operators now are female, according to 1999 figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

    Today there are 9.1 million woman-owned companies, accounting for $3.6 trillion in annual sales, according to figures from the Census Bureau. But that bounty has yet to spread to plastics companies. In fact, most aren't even aware of the others.

    "I haven't met any other women doing this," said Martha Lewis, president and chief executive officer of Lewis Pipe Co., a PVC pipe producer based in Ardmore, Ala. "All my peers are men. I haven't given too much thought to it, and I don't need excuses to be a woman in a man's world."

    All but a handful of women who own plastics processors took over businesses formerly owned by a relative — which in some cases thrust them into the spotlight.

    For women, opportunities and funding are five to 10 years behind that of other minority owners, said Christopher Brown, president of Capital Across America Inc., a private funding group for woman-owned businesses based in Nashville, Tenn.

    "Women are minorities, too, but they aren't always treated that way," Brown said. "As the years have gone by, women have been slotted differently from men. They face all sorts of growing pains."

    Minority-owned companies may benefit from aggressive purchasing programs, especially from U.S.-based automakers. But those programs generally do not include women, unless they belong to another minority group.

    Women business owners have traveled a tougher road, but one that has helped those companies earn respect, said Robin Hunt, president of H&W Plastics Inc. of Bowling Green, Ky.

    Few strong women mentors exist, so most women have broken through the glass ceiling by running a business on their own, she said. And that is fine with Hunt. She, like others, was not in favor of set-aside programs for women.

    "I didn't spend thousands of dollars getting QS- and ISO-certified just to be given business because I wear a skirt," Hunt said. "But we've paid our dues, and we'd like equality."

    But equality can be a slippery slope. A recent scan of a list of woman-owned plastics businesses from the U.S. Small Business Administration shows holes in coverage.

    More than half of the companies calling themselves woman-owned actually are operated by men or feature women as minority stakeholders. Those companies are excluded from professional certification and some government-guaranteed loans targeted at women. Yet, many potential customers use that same SBA roster when seeking woman-owned processors.

    SBA acknowledges the problem, saying it does not have the resources to professionally certify companies. The list is self-reported, said Sherrye Henry, assistant administrator for the SBA Office of Women's Business Ownership in Washington.

    "It's a huge problem," she said. "The outright lying that goes on in other businesses in order to get contracts is a real problem for women."

    Two not-for-profit groups, the National Women Business Owners Corp. and the Women Business Enterprise National Council, are among those that have started third-party certification. The groups require that a woman own more than half of the company and control daily operations.

    The Washington-based groups are attempting to stop companies from making excuses for not hiring woman-owned businesses, said Janet Harris-Lange, certification director for National Women Business Owners.

    "Companies want to attract women to the dollars they spend, but they're not comfortable doing that without thorough standards," Harris-Lange said. "They're afraid that business is not going to a viable, woman-owned company or is being passed through a shell company to a male-owned business."

    Yet, the number of women who are board-certified still is low, Harris-Lange said. She expects to see a surge in activity in the next several years.

    Many companies are using certification to award contracts to disadvantaged companies, said Susan Phillips Bari, president of the Women's Business Enterprise National Council. Among those with women-based supplier diversity programs are General Electric Co., Lucent Technologies Inc., Motorola Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and IBM Corp.

    Thousands of certifiers on the state and local levels are starting to certify women, she said.

    "Many companies claim to be women-owned when, in fact, they don't understand what the criteria are," Bari said.

    A case in point is Harmony Systems and Service Inc., an injection molder based in Piqua, Ohio. The company is run jointly by the husband-and-wife team of Edward and Nellie Adams. Both had worked at General Motors Corp. for years and wanted to go into business for themselves.

    They reported their new company in 1994 to the SBA as a woman-owned business, said Chief Executive Officer Edward Adams. That point is even made in a company brochure.

    "We thought it might benefit us," he said. "But it really hasn't. We've grown by recognition of our good performance."

    Achieving standards has been tricky on the government level, too. In 1995, the government announced a plan, developed by the SBA, to raise the level of federal contracts to woman-owned companies. The plan called for doubling the share of contracts going to woman-owned businesses to 5 percent of the $200 billion spent annually by government agencies.

    Yet, to date, the level of government spending has not exceeded 2.3 percent, up a scant 0.4 percent from 1995 levels, Henry said.

    "At most, it's still a goal," said Henry, who added that a renewed federal mandate will attempt to hike the percentage.

    Still, SBA and other groups offer women a phalanx of business-training and education programs and online chat rooms. Many of those programs are offered at SBA's 80 business centers for women.

    SBA also offers a microloan program, guaranteeing a loan of as much as $25,000. Since 1993, more than $11 billion in SBA-backed loans have been granted to woman-run businesses, Henry said. Of that total, $38.6 million has gone to plastics firms.

    The guaranteed loan amounts, however, are a droplet for a plastics company hungering to buy equipment with a hefty price tag. Banks have not always been the most friendly source of capital to women. Many women business owners spoke of self-funding their businesses or operating with only a small credit line while getting started.

    A case in point is Pacific Plastics & Engineering of Soquel, Calif. The injection molder — specializing in tight-tolerance parts for the medical and biotechnology fields — had to rely on its own funding sources for several years, said CEO Stephanie Harkness.

    Harkness and her husband, Jack, bought the company in 1989, with Stephanie set up to run the company as majority owner. The company needed a turnaround, so the couple cleaned house and started over.

    Financing was difficult, which Stephanie Harkness attributed partly to her status as owner and CEO. The Harknesses sank their retirement funds and all profit back into the business.

    "It will be a few more generations before we equalize things with men," she said. "Access to capital isn't so easy. We need a little helping hand, a little push, now and then."

    Problems with bank loans are an institutional problem, said Peg Wyant, managing director of Isabella Capital, a Cincinnati-based venture-capital firm specializing in woman-owned companies.

    "Typically, women work outside of financial networks and are not able to penetrate them," said Wyant, whose firm specializes in high-tech companies. "You're not fraternity brothers with these guys, not in the same clubs, didn't play golf on the same teams. Money is controlled by men."

    And while women run 38 percent of all U.S. companies, fewer than 3 percent of those companies use venture-capital funding, according to figures from several industry groups.

    Since June 1998, SBA has offered capital funding to woman-owned businesses through three small business investment companies, called SBICs. That trio of firms has provided $80 million of equity funds, SBA's Henry said.

    The ultimate goal of these emerging programs is to create a land of opportunity for all companies, said Deborah Waddell, owner of thermoforming and injection molding companies Curd Enterprises Inc. and Multiplastics Georgia LLC.

    Waddell has gone through a state certification process in Mount Pleasant, S.C., where Curd is located. And she is happy to have it — with some reservations.

    "I don't believe that you should judge a business by the owner's sex," Waddell said. "But you have to take advantage of the opportunities out there to be grabbed. If this helps us compete equally, then I'm all for it."

    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    logo-pn-color
    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber & Plastics News
    • Urethanes Technology
    • Plastics News China
    • European Rubber Journal
    • Tire Business
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2021. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • What Keeps You Up At Night
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
        • Polymer Points Live
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • FYI Charts
        • Current FYI
      • LSR World
      • Multimedia
        • Videos
        • Galleries
        • Podcasts
      • NPE2021
      • K Show
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • Special Reports
        • CEO Issue
        • Best Places to Work
        • Processor of the Year
        • Rising Stars
        • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • Heavy Metal
      • One Good Resin
      • BRICS and Plastics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Plastics in Healthcare
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
      • Industry Events
      • Livestreams/Webinars
      • Ask the Expert
      • Polymer Points Live
      • Reifenhäuser Technologies Livestreams
      • 2020 Caps & Closures Library
      • Plastics in Healthcare Library
      • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
    • Resin Prices
      • All Resins
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
    • Rankings
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Data Store
    • Directory
    • More+
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified
      • Digital Edition
      • Newsletters
      • Sponsored Content
      • Processor of the Year submissions
      • White Papers