[ad_1]
Q: Which markets offer you the most opportunities?
Flannery: Our quality systems and capabilities lend themselves to highly regulated markets. It is a medical device, they are life sciences. And these are also other areas that benefit from controls and process consistency: automotive, aeronautics and others.
I would say that in five years, I see the majority of our business being in the life sciences and medical devices. These customers, once you get a customer who is happy with your service and become an extension of your capabilities, they will continue to deliver for you as long as you continue to deliver for them. It’s too difficult for them to add to their suppliers.
We have built three clean rooms in the past 18 months. Our fourth, we’re going to start construction soon and it will be complete by the end of 2021. So we’ll have over 40,000 square feet of cleanroom space. The majority of our growth is in contract manufacturing in clean rooms in a controlled environment.
Q: The pandemic has changed our professional and personal lives so much. Is there a lesson you learned from this when it comes to Formula Plastics?
Flannery: There are so many lessons. You have to react to what you see in the market. The companies that did not react went bankrupt. We are 750 employees. Before the pandemic, we were at 500. We went down to half in March. And then, every operator we had to put on leave, we rehired, and more.
It has been a very stressful year. And I think we had to really make sure our employees feel supported. Alex and I suffered a 100% pay cut. All our employees have benefited from a 20% reduction in salary. And I’m proud to say we’ve paid back every dollar of that amount, plus.
Our employees really, I think, have great faith in what we do and in our mission. I think we’re really up to it in a lot of cases. Not to say that we are perfect in every way. But we have a motto: we suck less than the competition [laughs]. And we love to joke, and we still want to look at ourselves in the mirror and challenge ourselves every day.
So the lesson learned is that it’s about the people we work with every day and making sure they feel supported. And my role is that of their servant. I’m the third shift janitor. I am the cafeteria staff. I’m all I need to be to make sure our team members feel what we do here matters. I think we live up to that, and I’m proud of it.
Q: What keeps you from sleeping at night?
Flannery: Ensuring that we continue to focus on enjoying our customers and that we have the right resources, and simply delivering and meeting our commitments. When you double the size of your business and have a pipeline to double again, our biggest risk right now is execution risk. It’s about making sure you have the best, brightest, and most engaged employees who are focused on making our customers happy.
I can’t say it keeps me awake at night, because it’s something that I really enjoy personally. It’s a passion for me; I like what I do. I hope that my passion, and our passion as a team, I hope it rubs off on our clients. And our financial results suggest that is what is happening.
See page
[ad_2]
