PolyTech Plastic to move small plastic operation from Fort Smith to Prairie Grove

The growth story for PolyTech Plastic Molding of Prairie Grove continues. The company recently acquired the assets of Southern Cross Plastics of Fort Smith for an undisclosed sum, and will move about six jobs to Northwest Arkansas.

“We are excited about this deal which came together nearly seamlessly for us,” said PolyTech co-owner John McCutcheon. “We called on Ron Wesson, the owner of Southern Cross Plastics, a while back to help us with some plastic extrusion work, which is his specialty. We found out that he was looking to retire so we ironed out a deal to purchase its assets and allow him to stay on from two more years as a consultant.”

PolyTech is a plastic injection molding manufacturer that makes products sold at Walmart U.S. stores, as well as parts used by Rheem-Ruud, Carrier and the U.S. military. McCutcheon said the two companies have a few common customers but the biggest account he’s picking up from Southern Cross is Hobby Lobby, whose distribution is based in Oklahoma City. Southern Cross makes a plastic piece used in store display fixtures for Hobby Lobby, he said.

It will be about six to eight weeks before the four extrusion lines are moved from Fort Smith to Prairie Grove. Prep work for the new lines includes reinforcing and expanding the plant’s electrical systems. McCutcheon said Wesson utilized a staffing service who provided six temporary workers for his business in Fort Smith. PolyTech will add two or three full-time workers to run those lines once they are moved to Prairie Grove.

“Southern Cross has four extrusion lines and our plant just one, because that’s not all we do. This deal will allow us to grow the extrusion side of our business which is exciting,” he said in a phone interview. “We did not acquire the Southern Cross building in Fort Smith. Ron (Wesson) owns it and plans to sell it once the move is completed.”

McCutcheon estimates that the Southern Cross deal will beef up PolyTech revenues between 8% to 10% this year. Annual revenue estimates provided by Manta.com for PolyTech range from $5 million to $10 million. Revenue for Southern Cross range from $1 million to $2.5 million since it was founded in 2010.

McCutcheon said PolyTech’s business grew 20% last year as it geared up for suppliers to Walmart U.S. – like Smith’s Consumer Products of Hot Springs which sells knife sharpeners as part of manufacturing business that was onshored from China at the end of 2015. PolyTech also makes the taco plates for Fayetteville-based Jarratt Industries and plastic lids for the Main Stay private label candles sold at Walmart and supplied by Fayetteville-based Hanna’s Candles.

“We grew from around 48 employees last July to 60 today and we are still hiring as we continue to grow the business,” he said.

PolyTech is running six days a week in two 12-hour shifts and still has room for growth as McCutcheon said the plant is at roughly 60% capacity given the continued investments in additional equipment over the past year.

“We’ve got 20 machines running now. We added a 900-ton machine and 550-ton machine to our operations as well as additional racks in the finished goods area,” McCutcheon said. “One of the best things about this deal with Southern Cross is the expertise we get with Ron staying on for two more years as our consultant.”