Thermoformer of the Year - 2007
Curtis J. Zamec, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Wilbert, Inc.

Curtis J. Zamec was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio and was introduced to the plastics industry, as many of us were, through Dustin Hoffman's famous scene in "The Graduate." Mr. Zamec's Bachelor of Business Administration with a major in Marketing at Kent State led him to his first job, fresh out of college, at Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company (Akron, OH). He was involved in a division that marketed polyester films. The division was closed soon after he joined the company and he was part of the close-out team. This provided valuable business experience that would serve him well later in his career.

Goodyear led him to F. B. Wright Company (Cleveland, OH), a distributor of plastics and rubber products. Continuing to grow and learn about the plastics industry, he soon accepted the position of President at R. B. Plastics (Rochester, NY), a small heavy-gauge thermoforming company that had been in Chapter 11. This was his first experience to turn around a failing company. Rather unusual was the fact that the outstanding debt was paid off at 100 cents to the dollar.
Time was a problem, not dollars, and a great deal of time was spent with the bankruptcy judge convincing him of granting the company more time. During the same period Zamec Industries was started out of necessity because R. B. Plastics could not afford to purchase machines from Brown Machinery Company. Zamec Industries designed and manufactured single-station thermoforming machines that centralized all control and was the first company to use a computer (driven by the old IPM punch cards) in thermoforming process equipment. After his stint at F. B. Wright, R. B. Plastics and Zamec Industries, Mr. Zamec became Vice President of Operations at a large regional thermoformer owned by Wilbert, Inc., Thermoform Plastics, Inc. in St. Paul, MN. He was promoted to Executive Vice President/GM and then President of the company. His first acquisition, Plastivax (Cleveland, OH and Gastonia, NC) occurred during this period. He integrated the Plastivax Company into Thermoform Plastics and expanded their geography of influence to include Cleveland, OH and Gastonia, NC. Before moving from Thermoform Plastics to his current position, the company became the second largest thermoformer in North America. The company built a new 300,000 square foot facility in St. Paul, MN and a 100,000 square foot facility in Belmont, NC dedicated exclusively to the thermoforming process. At the time, these two facilities housed the industry's largest four-station rotary thermoformers (10'x22') and pressure formers.

With a successful career in the plastics industry now underway, the next challenge for Mr. Zamec was in 1999 when he became the President/CEO of Wilbert, Inc. (Chicago, IL), the parent company of Thermoform Plastics and Wilbert Funeral Services, Inc. After a small plastics acquisition, TransPak USA, a thermoform packaging company, Wilbert, Inc. decided to expand its death care business by attempting to acquire the stock of York Caskets, the nation's No. 2 casket manufacturer, a public company considerably larger than Wilbert. The acquisition was not to be, but the profit from the sale of the York stock made the future acquisition of Triangle Plastics, TriEnda Corp., Capri Bath and Synergy World from Alltrista Corporation possible. This acquisition made Wilbert, Inc. the owner of the largest heavy-gauge thermoforming company in the world.

Up until this point, Wilbert, Inc.'s plastics acquisitions were solely in the thermoforming industry. Wanting to roundout the company and provide a better solution for its consumers, the most recent acquisition was of Morton Custom Plastics, a thermoforming and injection molding company, with locations in Kentucky, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Today, Wilbert, Inc. and its plastics operations are continuing to evolve and develop their core interests, Wilbert Plastics' expertise lies in large-part thermoforming, pressure forming, twin-sheet forming and large-part (3,500-ton) injection molding. Together the multiple processes, along with Class A painting and assembly, Wilbert Plastics headed to be a plastics solution resource for the company's customer base. The company has 10 plants in 9 states, $244 million in annual revenue, approximately 1,400 employees and 1.8 million square feet of manufacturing space. Each facility is either ISO of QS 9000 certified. The thermoforming equipment includes 58 three- or four-station rotaries, and 73 CNC trimming stations. The injection molding equipment includes 118 machines that range in size from 85 ton to 3,500 ton. Approximately 130 million pounds of plastic are processed each year.

Since his introduction to the plastics industry, Mr. Zamec has been a member of the SPE and SPI and seen growth in the industry from its first thermoforming division meeting in Portage, WI to the last convention in Indianapolis that had attendance in excess of 1,000 people. Mr. Zamec enjoys a wonderful association with customers, competitors, employees, and vendors who contribute to the growth and success of this industry.