This year, Rowmark, the world’s leading manufacturer of engravable sheet plastics for the awards, engraving, and signage markets, is celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary of business, as well as twenty-five years of customer loyalty, experience in the industry, quality products, dedicated customer service, and giving back to the community.
In 1987, Fred Kremer, the CEO of Hancor Inc., a drainage pipe manufacturer located in Findlay, Ohio, had a vision. Kremer saw a growing need for extruded sheet materials in the engraving market. He established a working relationship with Don and Audrey Morrison of Rowland, Inc. in New Berlin, Connecticut. With this partnership in place, he acquired a plastic sheet extrusion line and formed the Hancor Sheet Division.
In 1993, Kremer purchased the sole sales and marketing rights for the awards and engraving market from Rowland. He created a new company, established as a separate division of Hancor, and named it Rowmark. In October 1997, Kremer resigned his position as the CEO of Hancor and purchased Rowmark outright from Hancor. In addition, he purchased a building for Rowmark in the nearby Findlay Tall Timbers Industrial Park to give Rowmark a state-of-the-art facility to grow and prosper.
Tragically Kremer was not able to see his dream to fruition, as he and two Rowmark pilots were
killed in a plane crash in December 1997. Despite the difficult loss, Rowmark employees and the Kremer family pressed on and opened the new Findlay, Ohio facility in September 1998. After two large facility expansions, this is where Rowmark’s manufacturing headquarters still reside today.
To help kick off its anniversary year, the Rowmark team invited customers, distributors, and show attendees to join them in celebration at the ARA International Awards Market in Las Vegas. Rowmark premiered a variety of new products at ARA, including the new Ribbon Pink color as part of the LaserMax®, Reverse LaserMark® and Mattes product lines, a special “Silver Edition” Swatch Binder and DigiMark OSi™, a new revolutionary print receptive acrylic sheet material. All of these products will also appear at the NBM Show in Indianapolis in June.
President and CEO Duane Jebbett said, “As the Rowmark family celebrates this milestone, we would like to thank our customers for honoring us with their business for twenty-five incredible and rewarding years. Through their support and that of our incredible distributors, we’ve been able to grow over the years. We hope to enjoy another twenty-five great years…we are just getting started!”
For more information about Rowmark products, visit www.rowmark.com or rowmark.com or use the online live chat feature and speak one-on-one with a knowledgeable customer service representative.
