RTP celebrated its 30th anniversary yesterday with good news: president Hugh Miller said the thermoplastic products company will double its local workforce by the end of the year or early 2015.

Miller, a third-generation owner of the Minnesota-based industry, said that while RTP has been busy this year, "you're going to get a lot busier, " turning to plant manager Tom Ginther.

Miller offered the upbeat assessment as employees, suppliers, community leaders and customers gathered for a luncheon celebration at the Sinai industrial park facility.

The company has purchased two new machines that will lead to a doubling of the current 12-member staff. One of the machines, Miller said, is currently producing all the company's specialized products in Germany, but that will change by year's end after the new machine is installed at the Sinai plant.

"We make the pellets from which nearly everything you touch contains some of our material," Miller said. One of the company's major customers is the Dupont company which he described as being "our bread and butter and what has kept up going through the economic slowdown."

In addition to celebrating 30 years in town, Miller also pointed to the company's safety record of 3,966 days without a reportable accident.

Miller, who flew in from his Winona, Minn., home, praised the work ethic of his local employees. "They're good people," he said, "who work very hard."

The company has 12 manufacturing plants in the United States, Europe and Asia plus sales representatives throughout the world. RTP Company engineers develop thermoplastic compounds in over 60 different engineering resin systems for applications requiring color, conductive, elastomeric, flame retardant, high temperature, structural and wear resistant properties.

from SoVaNow.com