Growth at GW keeps pace with speedy CEO

BETHEL, VT. — There's a quick pace to Brenan “Ben” Riehl that's unmistakable.

The president and CEO is on a first-name basis with many GW Plastics Inc. employees, doling out friendly “hellos” as he provides a guided tour of his Vermont plants to visitors. He spends half of his time on the road, mostly seeing customers in the health care and automotive sectors. But Riehl's pace seems to suit him, a natural stride for a track athlete who once sprinted a mile at a personal best 4:15 clip.

“This business is not at all about me. I'm a very small player in this business. It's all about our team,” said Riehl, who credits his father and company chairman, Fred, with instilling humility and servant leadership into GW's culture.

That mindset has worked wonders. Privately owned GW has set record sales in nine of the last 10 years and 2015 sales will fall just short of $150 million.

“The noteworthy thing about that is that it's been measured growth. It's been organized and it's been organic,” he said, noting that GW hasn't recorded a loss in the company's 60 years in business.

Riehl has been at the head of GW since 1998, 10 years after his Dad lured him to Vermont from GE Plastics in Cincinnati.

“The custom molding business is a tough business. It's margin-challenged and capital-challenged. It takes a tremendous amount of investment to be successful in this business so profitability is very, very important. If you grow too fast, you can either lose focus and hurt your profitability, or you can run out of growth capital. So at GW, we've really tried our best to focus on [an] organized organic growth strategy versus serial M&A type.”

GW has six facilities and 1,000 employees. Four plants and 680 employees are in the U.S., one plant is in Mexico (120 employees) and one in China (200 employees). Manufacturing is done in all six plants with the Mexico facility focused on automotive and the China plant focused on health care.

Riehl strongly hinted at internal expansion in Vermont with an official announcement forthcoming in two months. This would follow recent buildouts at its China and Tucson, Ariz., facilities.

Riehl and his team have set up a global footprint for GW and its multinational clients.

“We've aligned ourselves with a strong portfolio of successful market-leading customers. We've aligned our cultures, our business systems, our capabilities on a global basis. When you do that, you essentially become part of their manufacturing operations or their supply chain. With that comes the opportunity to grow consistently with them as they introduce new products,” he said.

Like most manufacturers, Riehl concerns himself with replacing his retiring workforce. Loyalty is not a problem, as GW this year will honor three 50-year employees. But, he said, GW has been hiring as long as he can remember, so his team has created what he hopes is a sustainable employment solution.

First, GW has a new technical leadership program with Vermont Technical College to develop employees' skills in math, physics, blueprint reading and more. Second, its new GW School of Tech geared for high school students is designed to give students a window into advanced manufacturing. The School of Tech graduated its first 10 students in June. These two new programs complement separate internship, scholarship and mentorship programs at GW.

“That really resonates with our customers because it's important that we have the ability to deliver for them consistently. And we can't do that unless we have a trained workforce,” Riehl said.

GW's plastic products find homes in devices like catheter inflation devices and seatbelt retractors made by some of the largest players in their respective fields.

“So when you ask me what keeps me up at night, it's the overwhelming sense of personal responsibility that my team and I feel to get it right for our customers and our customers' customers. Because, frankly, someone's life might depend on it. That's why we spend so much time at GW on workforce training and development,” he said.