A small custom injection molder is using a loan to expand in a city that has endured economic hardship.
Polymer Contours Inc. in Allentown, Pa., is using the loan to extend its ability to handle engineering resins and capture new business.
Polymer Contours has bought drying equipment so that it can bid on jobs specifying ABS, polycarbonate, nylon, PVC and other hygroscopic resins. The firm recently was awarded a $47,900 loan from the local economic development corporation to buy the equipment and step up its marketing efforts through trade shows and advertising, said President Tyson Daniels in a phone interview.
“We want to double or triple our capacity utilization,” Daniels explained.
The company runs three injection presses with clamps of 80 to 200 tons and so far has mainly molded polypropylene, polyethylene, polystyrene and acetal polymers.
Daniels said Polymer Contours is a nimble business that can tackle small and large orders.
“We are able to drive down mold costs,” he said. Per-part savings can be as high as 25 percent compared with larger companies with more overhead.
Polymer Contours gets involved at the part design stage and sources clients' molds domestically or offshore in its drive to keep costs down.
Daniels bought the business a year and a half ago and has been expanding it since then. Recent work included molding small containers, pulleys, spools and postal flags.
Daniels' molding experience began five years ago when he designed and coordinated production of elastomer grips for promotional products. He worked with a local tool builder on that job and the insight he gained in that work convinced him to get into injection molding.
The Allentown Enterprise Zone Revolving Loan Fund was created to finance business growth and job creation in a city that has been struggling economically for years since large steel operations and heavy truck manufacturing exited the region. The state of Pennsylvania has also stepped up efforts to revitalize the region by helping to finance reconstruction of the city's downtown. The city was recently cited as a “national success story” by the Urban Land Institute for redevelopment of its downtown.