GW Plastics recently announced that it has won the 2018 Vermont Business Growth Award, as well as two workforce development training grants.
The annual Vermont Business Growth Award is presented by the Vermont Business Magazine and KeyBank and acknowledges the top Vermont businesses that have had the greatest growth over the last five years. This year marks 15 years of the award.
“The primary change of the Vermont Training Program is to support performance-based training efforts statewide,” Vermont Gov. Phil Scott said. “Dollars invested with this strong and growing manufacturer are an example of Vermont’s commitment to workforce development, which is so important to our work to strengthen our workforce and create more opportunity for all Vermonters.”
GW Plastics in particular has had 52.4% growth over the last five years and this is the first time the company has received a Vermont Business Growth award. The company says it has grown in almost every aspect of its business, with major expansions of its facilities in Vermont, Arizona, Texas and China. The company also purchased Irish moldmaking company Avenue Mould Solutions last year. GW Plastics now has a combined 500,000 sq. ft of environmentally-controlled, advanced manufacturing space and offers contract manufacturing services on three continents.
The company was also the recipient of two grants totaling more than $80,000 from the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development’s Department of Economic Development. The grants from the Vermont Training Program will be distributed among two distinct educational initiatives.
The first grant amount is $63,750 and will go award process engineering training for new employees, apprenticeship training for molders and the GW Plastics Manufacturing Technology Leadership Program. The grant will help employees gain a better understanding of technical performance and manufacturing, business and leadership skills.
GW Plastics’s second grant of $16,594 will go toward the company’s School of Tech, which is a program for high school students that introduces them to advanced manufacturing through a semester-long, for-credit course. Students in the program are provided transportation to the company’s facilities and are instructed by tooling, automation and molding professional who will teach them how advanced manufacturing can fit into local and global economies. Students also have the opportunity to learn about the entire manufacturing process including product design, material selection, mold design, mold making, injection molding and quality.
“GW Plastics, an advanced contract manufacturer supplying to Fortune 500 companies around the world, depends on a skilled team to continue to meet our customers’ demanding requirements,” Brenan Riehl, GW Plastics president and CEO, said. “These funds, awarded by the Vermont Training Program, will help develop our emerging leaders and technical staff in achieving their potential and propelling GW Plastics toward a strong future creating rewarding careers and jobs in Vermont.”
