Greg Botner was executive vice president and chief operating officer of Wollin Products Inc. when Wollin's parent, Charter Oak Capital Partners LP, acquired Plastic Engineered Components Inc. in August 2001. The private equity firm named Botner president and chief executive officer of the combined operations, which in October 2001 adopted Titan Plastics Group name.
Since Stevensville, Mich.-based Wollin itself had been built from a rapid series of acquisitions, Botner faced a challenging task of integrating and consolidating a disparate group of assets. He has directed Titan as it centralized many core functions, closed seven plants, reduced the number of employees from 2,100 to 1,450, and moved its headquarters to Portage, Mich. With nine remaining plants in the United States, Canada and Mexico, Titan today has annual sales of about $200 million, serving the home-appliance, automotive, business equipment and electrical/electronics markets.
Botner joined Wollin in 1999 from Sterling Heights, Mich.-based Becker Group LLC, where he briefly directed that automotive suppliers's U.S. operations. Prior to that, he served for three years as president of automotive parts molder U.S. Farathane Corp. in Sterling Heights, Mich., and 10 years with Continental Plastics Co. in Fraser, Mich., as executive VP and COO. He began his career in 1976 with Plastic Molding Inc.in Livonia, Mich., and Cascade Engineering Inc. in Grand Rapids, where he worked in various manufacturing, engineering, and sales posts. He has managed companies and operations throughout North America, and also established joint ventures and licensing agreements with companies globally.
Botner attended Wayne State University in Detroit, and received a certification in plastics technology from Oakland University in Rochester, Mich.