Syracuse business plans to expand

Polywood, Inc. in Syracuse, Indiana announced Wednesday its plan to expand operations.

The company was founded in 1990 and currently employs about 250 people, but they hope to double that over the next three years.

“We're doing a groundbreaking project, we're creating a new facility down the road. We're looking to double our production and our business by January 2018,” said Matt Cripe, Ecommerce Sales Manager.

In the coming months they will tear down "Building 7" and replace it with a 230,000 square-foot facility.

This year Polywood, Inc., will celebrate its 25th year as a company.

“We actually have a really neat story. In 1990 right here, home-grown in Syracuse, Indiana, our president and owner are the ones who developed the product in their garage,” Cripe added.

The managers at Polywood, Inc. attribute this need for expansion to the success they have seen in the past three years.

“We're always trying to plan out two or three years ahead and we've exceeded even what we thought we were going to do. A lot of our business is just word of mouth so the quality, the durability of the product really speaks for itself. You can actually see that with the life span of the product, you know 20-30 years down the line it's still going strong,” Jon Hueni, National Sales Manager said.

All of their products have a 20 year warranty and are made to order. Each order will ship between three to 10 business days. They ship anywhere in the United States.

“The best selling product is the first product that was ever designed, which was a folding Adirondack. It was designed 25 years ago and it's still our number one seller by a large amount today,” Hueni said.

The products are eco-friendly and are made from recycled plastics.

“Everything is made from recycled milk jugs, recycled detergent bottles, that kind of thing. They are all USA-made plastics,” said Cripe.

In the months and years to come they plan to add up to 250 employees. Right now, they are in the busiest production time of the year, which starts in about April and goes until August.

"Our culture is a neat culture where we look for those entrepreneurial kind of minds that kind of fit that personality. We have a lot of fun here and we're really excited for the business season,” Cripe said.