At family-owned Hoffer Plastics, Gretchen Farb oversees the finances of the plastic injection-molding business as well as the Hoffer Foundation. She manages the company’s investments and its 401(k) plan. In the last 12 to 18 months, Farb instituted new enterprise resource planning software and helped lead the company to a record year. Revenue last year rose 12.5 percent to $90 million . . .

Must be summer because it is time to look at the numbers behind Plastics News’ ranking of the Top 100 North American injection molders. Look to next week’s issue for the smaller firms.
There are 102 firms in the top 100 this year, that’s due to the three ties at No. 100. The companies have combined molding sales of $29.1 billion. The top 10 alone make up 34 percent of that total revenue. The average sales per firm is $284.7 million, holding steady compared with last year.
The general trend in automotive was down, although a few lucky firms managed to grow. Medical molders also grew. I read many annual reports where company executives explained that their sales increases were due to resin pricing pass-through to customers.
For those firms reporting growth at the top 100, the average increase was 15 percent. The figure rises to 23 percent if you include acquisition-related growth. Six percent of the top 100 executives in this list are women.

For many Americans, President Donald Trump’s trade war may soon get very real.

His administration is preparing to extend 25% tariffs to practically all Chinese imports not already hit with duties, including toys, sneakers, shirts, alarm clocks, toasters and coffeemakers. That’s roughly $300 billion worth of products on top of the $250 billion targeted earlier.

“The administration’s decision to announce a tax on every product coming from China puts America’s entire economy at risk,” the Retail Industry Leaders Association said in a statement. “Americans’ entire shopping cart will get more expensive.”

For many Americans, President Donald Trump’s trade war may soon get very real.

His administration is preparing to extend 25% tariffs to practically all Chinese imports not already hit with duties, including toys, sneakers, shirts, alarm clocks, toasters and coffeemakers. That’s roughly $300 billion worth of products on top of the $250 billion targeted earlier.

“The administration’s decision to announce a tax on every product coming from China puts America’s entire economy at risk,” the Retail Industry Leaders Association said in a statement. “Americans’ entire shopping cart will get more expensive.”

For many Americans, President Donald Trump’s trade war may soon get very real.

His administration is preparing to extend 25% tariffs to practically all Chinese imports not already hit with duties, including toys, sneakers, shirts, alarm clocks, toasters and coffeemakers. That’s roughly $300 billion worth of products on top of the $250 billion targeted earlier.

“The administration’s decision to announce a tax on every product coming from China puts America’s entire economy at risk,” the Retail Industry Leaders Association said in a statement. “Americans’ entire shopping cart will get more expensive.”