Crawford Industries: forty-year-old Crawfordsville company finds its niche.

• Author: Mayer, Kathy
• Position: REGIONAL REPORT: WEST CENTRAL

GROWING CRAWFORD Industries to new heights was on the minds of David Sullivan and Kendall Faulstich when they bought the Crawfordsville company in 1999. Its vinyl division had recently been sold, it was a little overstaffed and it needed new energy.

What remained at the then-40-year-old company that had weathered a couple of ownership changes after founder Ken Crawford sold was a solid reputation for its polyolefin plastic sheeting--a blend of polyethylene and polypropylene--that it produces, prints on, cuts and custom shapes into hinders, folders, organizers, boxes, marketing items and other packaging pieces.

The two new owners reorganized the plant, escalated sales efforts and bought new equipment. Today, 155 employees cover three shifts at the Crawfordsville plant, filling as many as 1,500 orders a month that are shipped around the U.S. and Canada.

"It takes a lot to stay on top of that," says Sullivan, who oversees the operations side of the business while Faulstich, his co-managing director, focuses on sales

Orders have included binders for Finish Line, packaging for Target and Disney Resorts, boxed sets for AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, and boxes and envelopes for Indiana's Carpenter Realty, among other corporate and education buyers.

"Our products are highly custom, short run, niche products," Sullivan says. "In a sense, we're a very large job-shop organization, with clever, unique and innovative designs."

Currently, the company is focusing on expanding in the advertising specialty market. "There's growth there."

One step to help the business grow was buying the company's first offset press last fall. The waterless press enhances its capabilities for intricate printing in more colors on short to medium runs.

Crawfordsville mayor John Zumer likes the company's commitment to local growth and hopes it continues. "Many communities have seen their industrial base shrink...