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MiMfg Magazine
November 2017
Vantage Plastics
2017 MFG Community Impact
Vantage
Plastics
Vantage Plastics Inc. specializes in
custom thermoformed products, including
returnable packaging, pallets, custom
consumer goods, recreational products,
food processing trays and commercial
parts. It provides thermoforming services
to an array of industries, such as
automotive, food processing/handling,
agricultural, recreational and military/
aerospace, among others.
excellence
AWARDS
Paul Aultman thinks that a manufacturer
should look well beyond the boundaries of
its parking lot and customer base when it
comes to developing a meaningful corporate
mission statement.
“Our mission statement is Forming
Solutions, Forming Better Lives, Forming
Sustainable Futures,” said Aultman, president
of Vantage Plastics Inc. in Standish, the 2017
winner of the MMA’s Community Impact
award. “All three of those phrases say — in
one way or another — that our company needs
to be involved with our community.”
Along with corporate sponsorships, Aultman
encourages the approximate 190 employees of
Vantage Plastics and its two sister companies,
Airpark Plastics and Edge Material Management,
to also play personal roles in building the
greater Arenac County community.
Aultman and his wife Michelle founded a
501(c)(3) organization called Weaving Effective
Life-skills & Leadership Outreach (The WELL)
that aims to build a stronger community by
“empowering individuals to take charge of
their lives” with activities such as 5-K health
runs, weight-loss programs, parenting classes
and charity flag football games.
Aultman draws a strong link between the
growth of his manufacturing companies and
their support of community events.
“I just think that if you give back, that’s
how you grow,” he said. “We went through
some awfully tough times in 2008 when the
automakers and the economy tanked, and I
really believe that our community support
prior to that helped get us through that time.
“And we all know how business often gets
a bad rap, either in the way it’s portrayed in
the movies or how it gets covered by the
media when something unfortunate happens. I
just think that if you are an integral part of the
community, they know the moral fabric of
your business and support in the case of an
unfortunate circumstance.”
Vantage Plastics has prospered in Standish
after Aultman started the company in 1996,
with six employees and three thermoforming
machines in a 45,000-square-foot plant. The
manufacturer of thermoformed plastics
products such as industrial grade, reusable
plastic dunnage for precision machined metal
parts now has about 150 employees.
The company spawned Airpark Plastics, a
manufacturer of custom thermoplastic
polyolefin sheet stock, and Edge Material
Management, a company that accepts,
qualifies and processes durable packaging from
manufacturers so that it can be turned into
reusable dunnage. All three companies are
housed in a total of 200,000 square feet.
With his companies in the manufacturing
sector, Aultman has been active in exposing
youth to careers and opportunities in manu-
facturing and in supporting the growth of
manufacturing in Arenac County and the
state of Michigan. He is serving as president
of the Great Lakes Bay Manufacturers
Association and serves on the board of the
Mid-Michigan Community College MTEC
— Plastics Grant Initiative. His companies
have been recognized by several agencies and
organizations for sustainable growth and
business practices.
But Aultman said that it was the recognition
that he and his wife received from his employees
during the Christmas season of 2014 that is
“one of the most favorite things that has
happened to us.”
The employees established the Paul and
Michelle Aultman Community Scholarship
that year with the words “In 1996, you came
into the Arenac County community and began
a journey that has since touched many lives...
Your support to the employees, their families,
and the young people of this community has
brought much hope for a better future.”
“I think of that often,” Aultman said.
“That, to me, is meaningful and better than
a physical gift.”
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