Glacial Lakes visits White House on heels of third expansion

WATERTOWN, S.D.—Glacial Lakes Rubber & Plastics L.L.C. was asked to represent South Dakota at the White House as part of President Trump's Made in America Product Showcase in July, which highlighted manufacturing companies from each state across the U.S.

It's easy to see why.

The firm has continued to grow since its founding in 2014 and will soon expand for a third time, this time more than doubling its manufacturing footprint to 68,000 square feet.

Founder and CEO Robb Peterson said the new addition to its current facility will break ground in the fall and hopes to have the building ready by spring of 2019.

The project will represent about a $2.5 million investment and is projected to add about 30 jobs, bringing the company's employment between 90 and 100 when operational.

"Business has been great," Peterson said. "It's been straight uphill and all the curves are going in the right direction. Every market we service has been seeing increases. It's all been a rising tide out there in the economy. We're seeing market share increases in every area."

Glacial Lakes' primary business is producing rubber soles for Vibram, which Peterson said accounts for about 75 percent of its sales. However, the firm has experienced significant growth within its other industries—namely automotive, agriculture and heavy off-road industrial applications. It utilizes NBR, chloroprene, SBR and EPDM, among other rubber compounds.

Other rubber products include vehicle sound dampening items, bumpers, gaskets, nuclear waste parts, large cattle products for agriculture and heavy industry parts for semi-trucks. The firm also produces overmolded liquid diaphragms.

Peterson said Glacial Lakes continues to pursue other growth opportunities, most recently into the world of plastics. The firm has invested about $1 million in new equipment within the last year, and a good portion of that is targeting new business within the plastics industry. The firm will add a press to produce fiberglass reinforced polypropylene sheets. It also will add equipment for 3D printing, allowing it to make smaller plastic prototype parts.

"I think plastics is going to be a big boon for us because we have so much interest in being able to thermoform these structural sheets," Peterson said. "We had a customer who was looking for a specific type of molding. We saw there was a market for it regionally as well as something locally. We got a very positive response from manufacturers, so we're excited to be getting into that."

Being made in the U.S. drew the attention of the White House, which Peterson said was impressed with its story. Peterson founded Glacial Lakes when Minnesota Rubber & Plastics decided to close its facility in Watertown after 45 years of operation there and relocate production to Mexico.

Peterson was the general manager of the Minnesota Rubber & Plastics site, using the plant's closing as the catalyst to bet on himself and start his own company, which also allowed him to keep his family in Watertown.

"We're proud to be made in the USA," Peterson said.

"It seems like we are driving a culture of 'Made in the USA' is a good thing again. The different types of businesses we saw there—from pneumatic tools, to food products, to tools, to clothing. Things that you typically find made somewhere else we saw represented there, and that was a good thing."

Peterson said that was the first time he had been inside the White House. When he last visited in high school, he only got to see the South Lawn. The companies in attendance met one-on-one with members of President Trump's cabinet and Vice President Pence. Glacial Lakes took different questions from each focusing on how to make manufacturing in the U.S. better, also connecting with other manufacturers in attendance and developing new contacts.

One common request among manufacturers in attendance was more educational support to further develop the industry's work force, Peterson said.

"We're all looking for qualified talent," he said. "We're looking for more people who can make these products. Obviously, the less regulation we have the easier it is to make the product and market it. We don't have to spend money chasing down all those rules and regulations. But I think employment is a big challenge for a lot of people right now."