Advanced materials manufacturer
entrotech has built a strong and thriving business doing something few others do, says President and CEO Jim McGuire: creating advanced materials solutions from concept to marketplace.
The company develops film-based materials used to create and improve products in the electronics, biomedical, transportation and aerospace industries. Unlike many larger advanced materials companies, entrotech takes these solutions from the research and development stage to marketing and manufacturing. The company's chemistry-based approached allows it to innovate and meet real needs in the industry in a cost-effective way, McGuire says.
McGuire, an Ohio State University grad with a background in chemistry, founded entrotech to fill a need in the advanced materials market.
"I felt there was need for a chemistry-based advance materials company. Very few people create their own solutions from the ground up," McGuire says.
The company develops, manufactures and sells its own branded products and sometimes works with other companies to get products to market.
Among companies that have used entrotech's materials are Avery Dennison, Medline, Hewlett Packard, Western Digital, Dell, Microsoft, Gillette, Jaguar, Daimler Benz and Honda.
The Columbus-based company employees 90 people – and recently hired three employees -- with offices in Ohio, Southern California, San Francisco and Singapore, Malaysia. About 40 percent of those employees work in Ohio, he says.
The company got its start at OSU's
Business Technology Center before moving to nearby office space in Columbus. It was founded through a mix of angel investment and self-funding, but has received some state support. Last year the company received $2 million from Ohio Research and Development Investment Loan Fund to purchase equipment that allows it to expand its research and development capabilities.
Source: Jim McGuire, entrotech
Writer: Feoshia Henderson