Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • 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
    • K Show
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Processor of the Year
    • Best Places to Work
    • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Rising Stars
    • Diversity
    • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
  • 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
  • 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
  • Resin Prices
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • 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
May 20, 2016 02:00 AM

Being family-owned gives Tech II the 'special touch'

Jim Johnson
Staff Writer
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Tech II Inc.
    Eric Shiffer on the plant floor at Tech II Inc.

    Eric Shiffer says family-owned businesses play an important part in the fabric of America.

    But he worries that influence is fading away as more and more businesses come under the control of big corporations and private equity firms.

    “We're missing that special touch that I think family businesses can bring to industry. There's fewer of them today. Sometimes it's more than just about shareholder profits. It's about family and people and the environment. Things that are bigger than ourselves,” said the president of family-owned Tech II Inc.

    The Springfield, Ohio-area company is a second generation firm that uses injection molding and thermoforming for lids and containers, employing about 350 at two sites.

    Shiffer believes family ownership means that innovation can be embraced and decisions come quickly when necessary.

    “We don't have shareholders to answer to, so we might want to develop products that are speculative,” he said.

    The company is in the process of developing about 25 or so new products that will help Tech II continue to grow.

    “I think being family owned, we can go and develop the products that we think will be successful,” he said, without the politics found at a bigger corporation.

    Tech II makes most of its money injection molding lids, and with that long-standing and firm foundation, the company has branched out into a process called thermoformed in-mold labeling.

    Most in-mold labeling uses injection molding, and Shiffer said his is the only company in North America at this point using T-IML, importing the technology from Europe.

    “Innovation is overused. Everybody thinks they are innovative and Tech II truly is. I think that's what makes us different than a lot of companies,” he said.

    The company, with both plants located in German Township near Springfield, faced a crisis a decade ago when founder and patriarch Jerry Shiffer died in a plane crash.

    “The family pulled together. There was no doubt that we would continue. I'd like to think my father prepared each of us properly,” Eric Shiffer said. “He allowed us to be the best we could be which allowed us to continue.”

    But he said the company culture of empowering employees and treating them like family also helped his own family pull through.

    “They [employees] really pulled together despite — a sense of loss. They pulled together, sent the message to us that they were all going to continue and make Jerry Shiffer proud,” he remembered.

    These days, ownership of the firm involves siblings Eric, Dave Shiffer and Andrea Tullis as well as their mother Leah Shiffer. Just the brothers, Dave as chairman, are involved in the day-to-day operation of the company.

    “In our family, there is a certain amount of respect we have for one another. We value each other. What that does — that sense of value and respect we have for one another — it allows us to be open and honest with our opinions and what that allows us to do is move very quickly,” Eric Shiffer said.

    Talk to Jamie Roach, manager of the company's Upper Valley Pike plant, and he'll tell you all about the opportunity to work for a family-owned company. He worked at Tech II 25 years ago and then came back three years ago.

    “It's feeling a part of a winning team. I worked at several other places. It was something you had that you didn't know until you don't have it,” he said. “Here you get the feeling of what it's like to be an important player on a winning team.”

    Roach said he still remembers how he was treated, and the responsibilities given to him, by Jerry Shiffer when he was a young man. “It was a talent that Jerry had, He had the ability to make you want to do the right thing,” Roach remembered.

    These days, he said, the family-owned business continues Jerry Shiffer's legacy of treating its employees like more than just employees, the plant manager said.

    Read an overview of family-owned businesses and find links to other profiles.

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    MAPP survey shows ‘struggling' plastics processing sector
    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]

    SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTERS
    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
    • Tire Business
    • Urethanes Technology
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2023. 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
        • K Show
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • Processor of the Year
        • Best Places to Work
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • 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
    • 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
    • Resin Prices
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
    • 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