Consistency, family a recipe for success at Morgan Polymer Seals

Everything Kevin Morgan really needed to know about rubber, he learned in the kitchen of his family farmhouse, mixing up batches of chocolate chip cookies for himself and his eight siblings.

"I love making things, even when I was little," Kevin said. "I would make chocolate chip cookies when I was 7, 8 years old. I'd be in the kitchen running the mixer, measuring. And that's what rubber is all about, right? It's about measuring."

Measuring, yes. And experimenting, too.

And that's exactly what happened in the Morgan family kitchen when Kevin got a hold of measuring cups and mixing bowls.

"I never could figure it out, but I knew that if I used warm eggs or cold eggs, (the cookie recipe) came out different somehow," Kevin said of what he learned in his early cookie baking days. "Or too much baking powder or too little, they come out different. Sometimes, they'd go flat because I used butter vs. margarine."

Kevin measured and experimented, cracked a few eggs and stirred in handfuls of chocolate morsels. And all along the way—without even realizing it—he was fine-tuning the curiosity and skills that came so naturally. That inclination for math and science ultimately led him to the career he was always meant to have.

"I don't think, back then, you really understood what your future could be. We didn't really have counselors back then to help us decide who or what we wanted to be and why. You just thought you were going to remain on the farm," Kevin said.

Ultimately, Kevin's heart led him to the rubber industry, where he spent about 15 years working for large corporations. He learned a lot during that time, but he never felt he had found the right place. He was a maker, after all. A doer. A problem solver. And working on the executive side of things kept him from being able to fulfill that desire to experiment and create.

His heart told him he needed to try something new—experiment a bit.

So in 1997, he set out on another adventure. He launched Morgan Polymer Seals with little more than the hope he could establish a business that allowed him to care for his family and do all those things he loved to do: The science and physics, the measuring and experimenting, the making and problem-solving.

"We don't have crystal balls in life," Kevin said. "(Today,) you look and try to think of where your head was 25 years ago. I think (I was) still kind of in survival mode at that age. I think, for the most part, I had been working in the rubber industry for 15 years, and I just wanted to improve my quality of life."

Getting Morgan Polymer Seals off the ground was certainly a feat. One that required patience, planning and perspective—exactly the qualities that his sons, Sean and Sam Morgan, say he possesses in abundance.

Today, Sean—the oldest of the two—works alongside his father at Morgan Polymer Seals, serving as the company's chief revenue officer. He's watched the business from the start, seen it grow from an idea and a single desk in the family living room to a soon-to-be 82,000-sq.-ft. manufacturing operation that stretches across three facilities.

Morgan Polymer Seals' continued success is a reality, Sean said, because his father is willing to take risks and challenge the industry again and again.

"That is really one of dad's strengths, his ability to compartmentalize and bear with taking risks like that," Sean said. "This is one of the things that sets entrepreneurs apart from others is their ability to stomach risk.

"There were days early on in the company where cash flow was tight, and we were having to do some creative things to keep the machinery running. I may have been stressed a little bit. Dad? If he was stressed, you couldn't tell it."

Early on, especially, Kevin faced his fair share of doubters. Looking back, he said, he can't really blame them. Because from their perspective, the idea of building a company like Morgan Polymer Seals seemed impossible.

"Think about it: You are trying to get into the rubber industry and supply parts for the automotive people," Kevin said. "Who are your competitors? Parker, Freudenberg, Dana, Federal-Mogul. I mean, these are all—at the time, multi-hundred-million-dollar companies—now multi-billion-dollar companies. And so, the idea that I was somehow going to compete with these guys, most people looked at it and thought I was on a fool's errand."

Kevin, though, never saw it that way.

And today, 25 years later, with his sons and other trusted company leaders like General Manager Alex Borboa and Vice President of Sales Todd Tesky by his side, Morgan Polymer Seals is a success story. It's still growing and still making seals and gaskets for the automotive, medical and electronics industries.

It may be tough to pinpoint exactly what he was thinking in those early days of launching Morgan Polymer Seals, but Kevin remembers exactly what it felt like going to work each day.

"We didn't have a building. I didn't have any employees," Kevin said. "I was working out of my house in the family room on a 2-by-3-foot desk with three little kids running around and their friends running around, so I had to really focus on being focused."

He was focused, he said, on getting word out about the work he could do, the products he could make and ways he could serve his customers. Kevin had a handful of investors behind him, and he knew, once he could get some customers on board, success would come.

"After our first order, I went and bought a lathe press for $5,000, and I had 220 volts wired into my house and my garage," Kevin said. "I started making samples for a company that gave us a quarter for a prototype. That was our very first order."

He smiled before adding, "I still have those first samples—that first part we ever made—I still have that sample today."

And as it turns out, his first "employee" is still working for the company, too.

"Sam would come home from school, and I'd put him on the press and have him start making parts for us," Kevin said. "That was our first operation, the garage."

It's true, Sam said, noting that he was excited to do the work and earn some money to help him follow his own passion.

"I was a budding film maker, and I wanted to earn enough money to buy a camcorder," said Sam, who today handles the marketing for the family-owned company. "So I would do my homework in between heats."

The pride he took in those moments, manufacturing the parts, is evident in a short video clip he recorded on that camcorder he worked to earn in 1997. In the video, Sam carries the camera through the garage, briefly pointing out the bikes and other important items stored there before turning the camera on the press.

"Here is my little corner," a young Sam says, zooming in on the press. "This is where I make parts for dad."

Those days—the times he spent helping his father and finishing his homework—shaped who Sam is today. He learned a lot from his father, who in those teaching moments imparted wisdom that transcends business.

"If you watch—even the way he makes lasagna—it is very organized, very methodical," Sam said. "And when he first started the company, and I was helping to make some parts out in the garage—I was 14 years old—the first thing he showed me was the importance of setting up the station.

"He didn't start showing me right away how to make parts or work the press. He started showing me the importance of having a system. I think the efficiency the company runs on and the organization (of it), that is a direct extension of his personality and the way he has always done things. …

"It's also why I hope he is working for the next 10, 20 or 25 years," Sam said, "because I think we all greatly benefit from that. It's a bit of his personality that is weaved into every little part of the company.

"Oh, and his lasagna," Sam added, "is really good."

When you work for Morgan Polymer Seals, you're part of the Morgan family.

And when the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, the Morgan family did what families do—it took care of each family member, looking out for their health, safety and well-being.

The company wasn't quick to shut its doors when the pandemic took hold, but it did operate safely and responsibly. Those who could come to work did, with the exception of a two-week period when all operations were shut down.

During the pandemic, everyone—regardless of what position they held—was paid their full salary, whether they were able to work or not. Nobody, the Morgans said, was laid off.

"The way I looked at it was, a lot of people have sacrificed a lot for me in a 25-year period," Kevin said. "They worked hard for 25 years. And just because things got tough, I wasn't going to willy-nilly lay people off because they weren't working."

That decision to keep people working—and paid in full—turned out to be a boon for Morgan Polymer Seals, which hasn't faced labor market challenges like other businesses across the industry.

"One of the benefits of not laying off a portion of our work force is that, when things did start to come back, the people were there," Sean said. "We didn't have to scramble at all."

The dedication and longevity of the Morgan Polymer Seals team also lies in the company's ability to hire the right people. Talent, the Morgans point out, is deeper than your skill set. It's about who you are as a person, how you handle adversity and ways in which you make your workplace better.

"We basically have a team of people who are can-do-it, go-getter-type attitude," Kevin said. "They have a very positive attitude. If we find someone who is negative, they don't last very long. They bring a whole team down."

But like the perfect cookie recipe, the people are just one part of the business equation.

For people to succeed, Kevin said, they need to be positioned for success.

"You have to give people good tools," Kevin said. "If we give them bad tools, they aren't going to be able to do their job, they are going to fail. We buy high-quality equipment, and we buy high-quality tooling. We have always invested money in the tools that they need to do their job. …

"Our key is maintenance. We take care of everything with preventative maintenance. That's what we live and breathe day in and day out."

That approach to business—that people-first philosophy that Morgan Polymer Seals was built on—remains at the core of the business today. The company, the Morgans said, has a reputation for quality and 100-percent on-time delivery. It's been recognized routinely by both Ford and General Motors for always delivering quality parts on time.

And that won't change, even as the auto industry changes so quickly around them. Morgan Polymer Seals plans to move steadily forward, adapting as necessary, but always focused on those things its does best.

"The change to EVs, it is pushing us to strengthen our capabilities and focus on applications that are common to both (ICEs and EVs) in the automotive world," Sean said.

"Things like cooling systems are in both," Sean added. "Electrical connectors are certainly in both, sensor systems are in both, gear boxes are in both. So those types of sealings that are in both, we are going to focus on those and continue to focus on those.

"That said, we do feel as though traditional internal combustion engines are going to be around for a while. They will be around in automotive, but even more so in heavy-duty trucks in off-road, construction, ag machinery—things like that," Sean said. "So internal combustion engines will still be around, and we will be here to continue to serve those markets."

"We have a good cash position," Sean said. "We choose to take that cash and create finished goods, put it on our shelf and store that inventory, so when a customer comes to us in a panic and says, 'we just got our (microchips) and we need to quickly start making cars again, and we know we didn't give you a heads-up, but we need parts next week.' We can say: No problem."

So far, Morgan Polymer Seals has benefited greatly from that approach. And its built on a common-sense principle—putting people first—that sometimes gets lost in the hustle and bustle of business.

That steady focus, Sean believes, will keep Morgan Polymer Seals as a major and reliable player in the industry for the next 25 years and beyond.

"One of the things we are starting to see is, as companies do chase after the EV world, sometimes they turn away a little bit from the traditional internal combustion market, and we are happy to continue to take on that business," Sean said. "So, really, we have both feet firmly planted in both worlds."

Morgan Polymer Seals also has touted its ability to continuously manufacture and back-stock supply, even as OEMs face unexpected and regular shutdowns when parts and materials are in short supply—namely microchips.

But when its customers stop production, Morgan Polymer Seals doesn't.

"The automotive industry has become much more start-stop, start-stop, start-stop. That can oftentimes wreak havoc with manufacturing suppliers such as ourselves, especially when you talk about just-in-time (supply chains)," Sean said.

Whether its maintaining its work force during the pandemic or ensuring that supply is there to meet demand that's on the horizon, Morgan Polymer Seals' steady approach to business has caught the eye of many in the seals and gaskets industry and beyond.

It's rare that a week goes by without someone approaching Kevin or Sean, asking if the family would be willing to sell the company. And the answer is always the same: It's going to be a while.

"We are having fun. We are profitable. There is nothing on the horizon that would say we want to sell right now," Sean said. "Like dad said, he's approached by people and I'm approached by people all the time asking, 'do you want to sell Morgan Polymer?' And the answer is an easy one: No. No. We love what we do."

Morgan Polymer Seals may not be looking to sell, but the company isn't opposed to buying.

"We are absolutely entertaining acquisitions and JVs, both within our current automotive sealing wheelhouse and outside of it in order to diversify our company," Sean said, noting that even now "there are irons in the fire in those areas."

Because right now, the aim is to keep growing. For the benefit of the company and all of its employees.

And you can bet, that 25 years from now, the Morgan family still will be at helm, following Kevin's recipes for success and shaping Morgan Polymer Seals' reputation for quality and reliability.

"Sam is exactly 25 years younger than me. So in 25 years, he'll be exactly where I am today," Kevin said. "I think our plan is to keep the business in the family. We have no reason to sell it. I get an offer once a week that I am aware of. We are not going to sell the company. I enjoy what I do, I have no reason to retire."

Sam, like Sean, can't imagine working anywhere else. Because like their father, whose heart led him to this exact place, they've found their passion.

With Morgan Polymer Seals, Sam said, "there is this greater sense of legacy—ownership—for me. I have two little boys, ages 3 and 5. So, every day, when I get to help build Morgan Polymer Seals into something bigger and brighter along with my family, it is not just because I want a paycheck at the end of the month or a bonus at the end of the year. I am thinking about my kids. I am thinking about my kids' kids and their kids' kids."

Kids who, in these days of remote work, are at times running around Sam's desk at home, bringing Morgan Polymer Seals' story full-circle, but far from a close.