But Oborn led a campaign to create a supervisory position with Kent Elastomer to keep him.
"John is not just a leader at work," Oborn said, referencing Danes' involvement in the Southeast Local School District Board. "John's the complete leader, not only at Kent Elastomer, but in his community."
Danes said he has grown both personally and professionally in his long partnership with Oborn.
"Bob has been a great mentor and friend," Danes said. "Bob inspired me to get my MBA. Bob has cleared the path for me."
Oborn added there will no loss of continuity for customers in regards to daily operations.
In July, the $40 million Northeast Ohio firm that does about 85 percent of its business in health care fields (mainly medical and surgical) found itself in transition once again, this time pivoting into the TPE tubing space for biopharma applications.
The new Biopharmaceutical Division will offer "cutting-edge" TPE tubing exclusively for fluid transfer applications.
KEP did not divulge the investment amount for the new TPE lines, but said they are expected to be up and running by August at KEP's 25,000-sq.-ft. Mogadore, Ohio, manufacturing facility.
The move to TPEs for biopharma applications—including extruded tubing, fittings and assembly on bioreactor bags—has been a three-year undertaking for KEP.