Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Login
  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Resin pricing news
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • CEO Issue
    • Diversity
    • Best Places to Work
      • 2022 winners
    • Processor of the Year
    • Rising Stars
    • Women Breaking the Mold
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • K Show Livestream
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • 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 & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
October 27, 2003 01:00 AM

Merger giving Zehrco a new lease on life

  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Print

    Chuck Meadors has seen his industry go through the good times and the bad. He's watched his own company rise, then fall. In 2001, custom composite products molder Zehrco Plastics Inc., based in Ashtabula, Ohio, hit rock bottom. The firm was affected by a confluence of factors, including the death of its founder, Bill Meadors.

    ``We found ourselves cut in half with a plummeting economy,'' Meadors said in a recent telephone interview. ``I had to do a little bit of a retreat and find myself in another way.''

    Facing bankruptcy, Meadors sold 100 percent of Zehrco's assets to competitor GMR Technology Inc., also based in Ashtabula. GMR is owned by father-son duo Ralph and Tony Giancola. As a result of the deal, in June, GMR Technology formed Zehrco-Giancola Composites Inc., which has three plants in Ashtabula. Ralph Giancola is chief executive officer; Tony Giancola is chief operating officer.

    ``What we literally did was found ourselves eliminating a competitor,'' Meadors said. ``Collectively, we have enhanced our resources [with] facilities, locations, equipment and intelligence. This has made us much more effective in a common goal and objective.''

    The combined firms have more than 70 presses and 100 employees. They focus on compression, thermoset injection and transfer molding.

    ``We already have been expanding in capital expenditures, in growing press capacity with additional equipment,'' Meadors said. ``With the absence of Bill, we are reunited with that entrepreneurship, family commitment and values. It's so much of that that is lost in this new era. Ralph brings that back to what we admired and respected so much. That's what excites me most about this new endeavor.''

    GMR Technology will operate as a separate corporation for now, said Tony Giancola. That operation focuses on other areas, such as injection, phenolics and polyesters.

    ``If it makes sense in the future to combine it as one, we will,'' Giancola said in an Oct. 15 telephone interview. Still, officials are touting the companies as an integrated supplier able to handle compounding, product design, tooling, custom molding, subassembly, painting and machining.

    Giancola said the companies offer a range of composite materials, including sheet molded compounds, bulk molded compounds, epoxies, phenolics, melamine, compression-molded solid surface acrylics and urea. Ashtabula itself has a rich history of composite production. In 1948, Robert Morrison founded Molded Fiber Resin Cos. In 1953, the company was chosen to produce all the fiber-reinforced plastic parts for the Corvette.

    GMR and Zehrco have competed for 20 years, Meadors said, but Zehrco was hit particularly hard in 2001. It grew from $8 million in sales in the 1980s to a $22 million company in the 1990s, boasting developments like the composite material for the world's strongest shovel handle and awards for products like compression molded spill containers for use at gas stations.

    By 2001, the firm was completing a $5 million SMC facility, with plans to consolidate two facilities into one. That had been the wish of Bill Meadors, who died in June 2001 from leukemia. That year introduced other factors, including the economic impact of Sept. 11, that would push Zehrco to sell the plant. By year's end, Zehrco had lost its second-largest customer.

    Meadors sold the new SMC plant to Plastpro Inc., a Livingston, N.J., maker of composite doors.

    ``I had no option,'' Meadors said. ``I could not afford the cost of completion. Nor could I afford the costly project of moving from two operational manufacturing facilities into one. The estimated cost was $1.5 million and that's not financeable. That comes out of your pocket. And I wasn't about to get caught between third and home base. I didn't have the funds to make the move.''

    Still, Meadors said Zehrco-Giancola is better off in the global economy.

    ``We aren't large enough just to expand to Asia or wherever, but it is our opinion and our belief that most people can buy anything they want for whatever price they're willing to pay, somewhere in the world. But they would just as soon do that by having world-class suppliers on a more local or domestic basis, where they don't have to deal with time zones, language barriers, dollar exchanges, etc.,'' he said. ``While we're not in China, we would like to think that we can perform competitively, sparing those unneeded or additional issues that we would have to deal with otherwise.''

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Biden eyes cutting federal purchases of single-use plastics
    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]

    Most Popular
    1
    Polymer Points Live - July 2022
    2
    Following a record year for plastics M&As with wary eye on future
    3
    Plastics in Politics Live - July 2022
    4
    California passes strictest plastics law in US, with EPR and recycling targets
    5
    Big deals, frequent buys in first half of 2022
    SIGN UP FOR TO RECEIVE THESE EMAILS AND ENEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    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.

    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 News
    • Urethanes Technology
    • European Rubber Journal
    • Tire Business
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright Ā© 1996-2022. 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
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • CEO Issue
        • Diversity
        • Best Places to Work
          • 2022 winners
        • Processor of the Year
        • Rising Stars
        • Women Breaking the Mold
      • Newsletters
      • Resin pricing news
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • K Show Livestream
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • 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 & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified