Naples, Fla. — MTD Micro Molding is the 2018 Plastics News Processor of the Year. The winner was named March 6 at the Plastics News Executive Forum in Naples.
With 37 employees and 14 presses, MTD is the smallest company to be named Processor of the Year in the 22-year-history of the award.
The win is bittersweet for MTD, because Dennis Tully, the president and owner of the Charlton, Mass.-based injection molder, died of a heart attack on Feb. 28. He was 58 years old. The decision to name MTD winner occurred before Tully's death.
Tully always credited his team for the company's success. “He'd always say, ‘It's my team, not me. [MTD] will be successful for years after I'm gone because of them,'” said Lindsay Mann, director of marketing.
The company was one of four finalists for the award. PN will profile all of the companies in the March 11 print edition.
The competition is open to North American plastics processors that have been in business for at least five years. Criteria include financial performance, quality, customer relations, employee relations, environmental performance, industry/public service and technological innovation.
The winners of three PN Excellence Awards were also named at the forum. Plastek Industries Inc. of Erie, Pa., is a repeat winner for customer relations. Vital Plastics Inc. of Baldwin, Wis. won for employee relations. Intertech Plastics Inc. of Denver won for industry/public service.