ElectriPlast: A Silence Broken...

"Made

in the

Tri-State

Jasper

Rubber..."


By Carol Wersich
Evansville Courier & Press
EBJ Magazine, Monday
July 2, 2007


[ElectriPlast Blog (EB) Publisher's Note: The following is a link to the EBJ Magazine, and is featured here in the best interest of those watching the evolution of ElectriPlast, as its marketing potential becomes realized, and to ensure a broad awareness of the Jasper Rubber Company (JARCO) perspective, and impact to come.

That said, I offer my sincere appreciation to both the EBJ Magazine Reporter, Ms. Carol Wersich, and to JARCO CEO, Mr. Doug Matthias, for their time and energy in making this valuable information public.

Also, a word of thanks to the Evansville Courier & Press for focusing on a local community success story that has the eyes and interest of many far beyond their county borders.

A final word of thanks to the EB Reader who initially spied the article and anonymously flagged its presence on the EB's comments board: Great find and good catch. With Cheers & Best Regards to all -- PK sends...]


Jasper Rubber Pins Growth Hopes on New Energy-Saving Resin

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2007/jul/02/made-tri-state-jasper-rubber/

COMPANY INFO
Company: Jasper Rubber
Address: 1010 First Ave., Jasper, IN 47546
Contact: Doug Mathias, president and CEO
Phone: (800) 457-7457, ext. 200


One day Doug Mathias, president and chief executive officer of Jasper Rubber Products, read with interest an investment newsletter article about a new electrically conductive resin-based material called ElectriPlast. The material, he learned, weighs 80 percent less than copper and 40 percent less than aluminum, while providing the same electrical properties.

Its light weight and energy-saving qualities make the application especially useful in U.S. military and aerospace programs.

Mathias was impressed that the patented ElectriPlast can be produced automatically as a mold-finished product, unlike metal parts used in conductive applications that have to be machined — a labor-intensive process — and converted to a useable form. The latter process, he said, also involves much waste.

Believing some of Jasper Rubber’s current 600 customers in the automotive, electrical, appliance, filtration and other markets could use the new ElectriPlast, Mathias contacted Thomas Aisenbrey, who developed the material for Integral Technologies Inc. of Bellingham, Wash.

Mathias asked about the possibility of acquiring a license to make the material for Jasper Rubber’s customers. He was told that Integral was looking for a company to pelletize the material as it moved to commercialization of the product.

As his and Aisenbrey’s business relationship grew, Integral officials sought Jasper Rubber as the exclusive manufacturer of the plastic pellets. Realizing the enormous growth opportunities that would present for Jasper Rubber, Mathias signed an agreement to be the sole manufacturer.

“We will get to participate in every pound of ElectriPlast sold in the world,” he said, noting there are nearly 300 potential new customers that Jasper Rubber has identified and provided with non-disclosure agreements since starting the process late last year.

“The response is overwhelmingly positive,” Mathias said, Jasper Rubber is currrently supplying 17 of the new clients, including some in the communications, automotive and heating industries and the military and aerospace.

Mathias said he couldn’t begin to guess how much more Jasper Rubber will grow from the contract, landed by a fluke.

Jasper Rubber hopes to get up to full productioni speed by the end of the year. The company’s work force isn’t expected to grow much beyond its current 700 or so associates because the ElectriPlast pellets manufacturing process is mostly automated. But the company eventually may add additional work shifts and a new manufacturing facility, Mathias said. So far, one of Jasper Rubber’s three manufacturing plants still is adequate, he said.

Jasper Rubber, a 100-percent employee-owned company, offers a full range of rubber, thermoplastic and plastic materials that can be custom compounded to meet individual needs.

It works closely with chemists and engineers in the design stage of their projects.

The company today is a far cry from its humble beginning in 1949, when it was founded by a group of local investors to produce the “Plumber’s Friend” toilet plungers. It eventually distributed the plungers nationwide.

Jasper Rubber hasn’t manufactured the plungers for many years, having moved on to more modern technologies and products, according to Mathias, a 23-year veteran with the company.

By CAROL WERSICH
EBJ staff writer
464-7452 or wersichc@ebj.biz