Kickstart: Breaking molds in search of workers

Hoffer Plastics Corp. is turning to its existing workers to help it recruit new ones.

The South Elgin, Ill.-based molder has launched a "Break The Mold" initiative to "rebrand" the image of jobs in manufacturing. The effort includes a video series featuring its employees, who talk about how they "wish they knew more about manufacturing job opportunities" when they were in high school.

"I'm not going to have any debt," one employee notes in a video. "I wish I knew about this in high school."

The nearly 70-year-old company is a custom molder with 350 employees at a 365,000-square-foot factory and a proprietary Trust-T-Lok line of closures for flexible packaging and a former Plastics News Processor of the Year.

If videos aren't your thing, how about advertising your openings through fireworks?

Mold-Rite Plastics sponsored a fireworks show in Plattsburgh, N.Y., on Aug. 12 in an effort to get local residents talking about the company.

The show "celebrates Mold-Rite's valued customers, suppliers, team members and our community," the company said on social media posts.

The "unique" recruitment drive is looking to fill spots on multiple shifts and the molder is offering sign-on bonuses and other incentives, according to Sun Community News.
Chicago-based Mold-Rite is an injection molder specializing in packaging.

If you just want to get away from all the stresses of finding workers, however, how about a walk along the boardwalk in Myrtle Beach, S.C., where city planners will use plastic wood to replace the existing lumber walkway.

The 11-year-old traditional wooden boardwalk is badly damaged and synthetic wood will last longer, a local designer told city officials, according to local TV station WMBF.

In addition to longer life, plastic wood will allow the city to mimic nautical flags or other designs by using different colors.

And as some tourists told the local news crew, the plastic option is kinder to bare feet and less maintenance.