A Message from Kim Medford, ENTEK’s new President
Welcome to the latest issue of Extrusion Solutions.
An Introduction
Hello! In late August I was humbled and honored to be named the new President of ENTEK Manufacturing.
They say we stand on the shoulders of those who came before us and I am very fortunate that each of my predecessors provide me with broad shoulders, making an excellent foundation to continue to build ENTEK Manufacturing as the best supplier to its customers. With that in mind I’d like to thank ENTEK’s CEO, Larry Keith, and ENTEK Manufacturing’s former President, Dr. Kirk Hanawalt, for their support and guidance. For over a decade, I have had the opportunity to work with both Larry and Kirk, first as outside counsel for ENTEK Manufacturing, and since 2012 in the role of Vice President & General Counsel and as a member of the executive management team. They have been instrumental in mentoring me to hit the ground running in my new role.
Because of you, our customers, and our outstanding team of employees, ENTEK is on a growth journey and the opportunities are great. We have a lot of exciting things happening, and I look forward to leading the company into the future.
2020: A Year Like No Other
It’s an understatement to say that 2020 has been a difficult year. Like everyone in our country and around the world, we’ve had to deal with the COVID-19 global pandemic, which has brought enormous challenges. Here in Oregon we were also faced with wildfires this fall that burned down a large part of our state and threatened the health and safety of our surrounding communities and our employees.
Despite these challenges, ENTEK stood strong with our employees, suppliers and customers and is ready for 2021 stronger than ever. While COVID is still very much a part of our daily lives, we have stringent safety measures in place and continue to conduct business as usual to meet our customers’ needs. I am so proud of our teams for their resilience and commitment through the shifting challenges we faced during 2020.
In true ENTEK style, during the wildfire crisis, several of our employees volunteered at temporary shelters and food banks to help make sure that people displaced by the fires were cared for. As the need of our surrounding communities continues as people begin to take on the rebuilding process, our team continues to support this effort through several programs, including the ENTEK Employee Community Fund which provides new coats for kids in need in our local communities. Additionally, in a about a week our teams will do what we do every year, which is to provide food boxes to the less fortunate in our community to ensure that they have a full meal to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday.
In our last issue of Extrusion Solutions Larry Keith said it best: ‘ENTEK doesn’t do things halfway.’ We will continue to lead the way, in our community and in our industry.
In This Issue
I hope you enjoy this issue of Extrusion Solutions, which features our cover story on our customer JEDA Polymers, and how ENTEK’s technical processing expertise has helped them succeed; a story on bioplastics, an area of continued importance and growth; a feature on ENTEK’s extruder rebuild services, and more.
Thank you to all of our customers for your continued support. I look forward to meeting many of you in the future. In the meantime, please stay safe and we wish you good health.
I encourage you to contact me anytime at kmedford@entek.com.