Poly Vinyl Co. history

1968: The company is formed.

A bitter takeover attempt in 1969 forced the Goodrich board to make some changes.

In 1972 O. Pendleton Thomas, an oil company executive, took over command of Goodrich and restructured, closing money losing plants and modernizing others.

As the business grew the Eatontown plant expanded, adding an additional 20,000 square feet in 1975, and another 20,000 square feet five years later.

In 1978 Rimer Anstalt, a Lichtenstein-based private investment firm, acquired a controlling interest in the company, but Rimer was content to remain in the background as a passive investor and allow the company's management team to run the business.

In 1979, when John D. Ong took over as chair and CEO, Goodrich was fourth among tire manufacturers, behind Goodyear, Firestone, and Michelin.

By the end of 1981, 51 percent of total assets and one-third of the company's $3 billion in sales were attributable to Goodrich's chemical group.

In 1982 general-purpose PVC was selling at 25 cents a pound, two cents below the industry recognized break-even point for PVC manufacturers.

By the spring of 1983 the PVC market was in an upswing and Goodrich increased its PVC prices eight cents per pound in April.

In 1984, 200 jobs, or 25 percent of salaried employees, were cut from Goodrich's Chemical Group.

But PVC was still the world's second-largest-selling plastic and the Geon Vinyl Division remained the largest producer of PVC in North America, grossing $865.8 million in 1985.

When United States demand for PVC was high and export demand strong due to a weak dollar in 1988, Goodrich sold its 50 percent stake in Uniroyal-Goodrich Tire, leaving Goodrich with core businesses of polyvinyl chloride, special chemicals, and aerospace.

In 1989 William Patient, a chemical industry vice-president forced into early retirement, was hired to run the Geon division.

1990’s – Company Growth

In 1992 PVC took initial steps to move into the PET bottle sector by forging an alliance with a Canadian company, Kantrail Plastics.

In 1993 Geon was spun off from Goodrich, with Patient staying on as president, CEO, and chairman.

Finally, in 1995 PVC added PP bottles to its product line.

In terms of future capacity, 1.5 billion pounds of United States PVC capacity was predicted to come onstream by mid-1996, causing a possible shift in demand and pricing.

In 1997 Novapak was created to produce high-margin specialty products, provide more diversity, and better position the company for steady growth.

Although revenues grew to $94.8 million in fiscal 2000, the company lost nearly $1.2 million.

Although the company did a better job in controlling costs and the price of resins fell, business continued to slide in fiscal 2001 as weak demand in both containers and compounds resulted from an economy lapsing into recession.