A need for more elbow room has led Thermoform Products LLC to move from Euclid, Ohio, to nearby Stow.
The thermoformer had occupied an 8,000-square-foot space in Euclid since 2011, but moved to a 35,000-square-foot location in Stow — about 40 miles away — in March, President and CEO Matt Ruzicka said in a June 9 phone interview.
“We really needed a bigger building,” he explained. “We have five machines now, and with the added space, we might be able to add another.”
Ruzicka has almost 40 years of thermoforming experience. He owned thermoformer Thermotech Plastics until that business closed in the early 2000s. James Fladda — another thermoforming veteran with almost 40 years of experience — serves as Thermoform Products' president and chief operating officer.
Thermoform Products now has around 10 employees and annual sales of $1.5 million. Ruzicka said that new business opportunities could increase those totals to 50 employees and sales of as much as $5 million in the next few years.
The Stow Community Improvement Corp. provided Thermoform Products with a $5,000 grant to assist with the move. Ruzicka said the firm is seeking additional county and state funding for future growth.
Thermoform Products can do thermoforming, vacuum forming, pressure forming and twin-sheet thermoforming for automotive, medical, electronics and other markets.
“We're really going after business in the tri-state area of Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan,” Ruzicka said.