The Huntsville Times, Saturday July 30, 2011

Plastics firm aims to 'take back' work gone overseas

Budd McLaughlin, Business Editor

Plastic Molds

Commercial products manufacturer Strata Form opens a new facility on Gilmer Road. The company specializes in plastic molding.

"Just one word," was what Mr. McGuire said he had for Benjamin in "The Graduate":

"Plastics," said Mr. McGuire.

"Exactly how do you mean?" said Benjamin.

"There's a great future in plastics," Mr. McGuire said.

The Mr. McGuire character in the classic 1967 movie may have been prescient about the material's value.

On Friday, Strata-G Solutions and Strata Form held a ribbon cutting and open house for its facility on Gilmer Drive in Huntsville. The audience included civic leaders and elected officials as well as the business community. Strata-G specializes in engineering and weapon systems manufacturing and simulating and supports the rotary-wing programs on Redstone Arsenal. It opened in 2008 and has more than 100 employees.

The company has a 100,000 square-foot production and storage facility on Gilmer Road, just off Wynn Drive.

Now, we'll take Mr. McGuire's cue.

Strata Form was founded last September and, while Strata-G is defense oriened, Strata Form is a commercial-products manufacturer that specializes in plastic blow-mold and injection-mold technologies.

It was started through a collaboration with Devin Whitaker, the president and founder of Strata-G; Marty Hirsch, Strata Form vice president; and Southern Pation - the maker of lawn, garden, and patio furniture.

They all wanted a company that would "take back" work that had gone overseas and provide jobs for the local economy.

In fact, during peak operations, Strata Form employs more than 155 people from HUB Zone communities, and the "Made in USA" logo is proudly displayed on its products.

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