By Bill Bregar
SENIOR STAFF REPORTER
Published: January 15, 2014 1:25 pm ET
Updated: January 15, 2014 9:00 pm ET
Image By: Bill Bregar
Herb Hutchison
Omega Plastics Corp., a custom profile extruder in the midst of an $8.2 million expansion in Clinton, Tenn., has hired extrusion veteran Herb Hutchison as vice president of sales and marketing.
Hutchison has more than 30 years of experience in custom profile extrusion, at Crane Plastics Manufacturing Ltd., and Milacron Extrusion Systems. He joined with several other people to start Polymera Inc. in 2010, a compounder specializing in wood-plastic composites material, which it sold to extrusion companies.
Hutchison said Polymera is in production and he still has an ownership position in the Hebron, Ohio, company. But he wants to use his profile extrusion experience. He will not be actively involved in Polymera.
"I'm still a stakeholder in [Polymera], but I needed to do something different for Herb Hutchison. Custom extrusion gets back to my roots. The custom extrusion side is where I grew up and it's good to be back," he said in a Jan. 14 telephone interview. He will split his time between Tennessee and his home office in Columbus, Ohio.
Omega Plastics will begin building an 85,000-square-foot expansion in the spring, which will double its size, President Stephen Redwine said. Omega also has added five new extrusion lines, with a sixth line on the way. That will give the company 19 extruders.
Omega generated $15 million in 2013 sales, he said.
The custom extruder supplies a range of markets, including components for windows and doors and construction products, plumbing, irrigation, telecommunications, electrical, lawn and garden and some medical and automotive. One big product is "spaghetti strand" mats, made by a process patented by Omega.
The extruders at the Clinton plant are a mix of single-screw and twin-screw extruders, and Omega can run powder and pellet material.
Omega also has a complete tool building shop, with machining and wire EDM. "That's really important for a custom profile extruder, and not many have that capability," Hutchison said. | 
