Stone Plastics aims to add 25 skilled manufacturing positions to employee rolls in Zeeland

With less than 12 years in business, Zeeland-based Stone Plastics & Manufacturing, Inc. already has 176 full-time employees. But with resurgence in the automotive industry, the custom injection molding company expects to add 25 employees in coming months.

Four machine operator positions are open right now, says Employee Development Manager Steve Heethuis, and another three positions in engineering, tooling and scheduling are open to internal candidates with a chance of going to the public if they're not filled.

"Every job we fill has first gone through our posting board internally," Heethuis says. "There are skilled individuals out there, but part of the reason we develop from within is because we can identify individuals with skills who fit our culture."

Heethuis says the company is designing its own custom injection molding machine right now, and expects that to be up and working in the coming months. Once the machine is operational, the company will need another 18 people to fulfill the contracts associated with that machine -- three coaches/supervisors, 12 machine operators and three apprentices.

He adds that Stone Plastics invests in its employees through specialized training opportunities.

"We put 18 individuals through Grand Rapids Community College this past semester for plastics, tooling and maintenance and one to Davenport," he says. "We're helping them grow their technical proficiency so they can move up to better paying positions as they become available."
 
For more information on the jobs available at Stone Plastics (8245 Riley, Zeeland), click here.

Source: Steve Heethuis, Stone Plastics & Manufacturing, Inc.
Writer: Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News Editor