Montrose - Daily Press

Mike Robuck

MONTROSE - Gordon Composites Inc. broke ground on a new era Friday.

Instead of using the traditional golden shovels for a groundbreaking ceremony, Gordon Composites CEO Mike Gordon and Dave Gordon mounted backhoes, which were provided by general contractor Ridgway Valley Enterprises, that had gold-colored buckets.

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"We're going to use technology instead of our old bones," Gordon said before warning the crowd of over 60 spectators and employees who were on hand for the groundbreaking that he didn't know how to operate a backhoe.

The break with tradition at the groundbreaking fit into the theme of Gordon Composite's new 50,000-square-foot building where a new product called Polystrand will be manufactured. During his address to the audience, Gordon said he first heard about the technology behind Polystrand at a conference in California.

"It's a new, exciting technology for us," Mike Gordon said. "It's a system to produce what we believe is the future of composites."

Gordon Composites was founded in 1953 as Gordon Plastics, and it originally made archery bows. The company moved to Montrose in September of 1994, and it has 40 full-time employees in its old building who make a wide range of fiber reinforced composite products such as springs for office chairs and materials for skis and snowboards.

The new product that Gordon Composites will manufacture is processed into ribbons or coils before it's reformed through a high heat and cooling process to create other products such as battery cases, bumper beams and floor pans in vehicles. Gordon said Polystrand is a "green" product, which means there's less waste in the production process and it's recyclable.

"The automobile industry doesn't want any product that's not easily processed and recyclable," Gordon said. "There is a large volume of applications that are available for this product. The aerospace industry can use it in cargo containers, which are currently made of aluminum plate. Since it's lighter there is better fuel efficiency in the aerospace industry and in the automobile industry."

Polystrand can also be used in the plastic lumber that is used for the construction of house decks, which results in a deck that is stronger and more insect resistant than a wooden deck.

Gordon held up a small, rectangular piece of Polystrand that was formed of 35 layers during the heating and cooling cycle to make armor plating.

"This little plate stopped a round from a .44 magnum at 4 feet and an AK-47 at 12 feet with the addition of a ceramic layer," Gordon said. "Blast mitigation is becoming more important in our society today, and we think we'll be a big player in that field."

The building is scheduled to be completed over the next six months. Gordon said the company will need an additional 75 to 80 new employees once the new product line is ramped up to full-scale production over the next three to five years. In the first year of production, Gordon Composites will hire at least 12 new employees.

"This plant at capacity will produce at least 20 million pounds of product per year," Gordon said. "Our current plant is producing approximately 2 million pounds."

Gordon said the new plant was the result of a collaborative effort by various entities in the area.

Montrose County used its allocation of industrial revenue bonds to help finance the project, and Delta County contributed a portion of its industrial revenue bonds. Wells Fargo helped put the financial package together.

"Your products are made by interweaving them together to increase the strength and you've done that in our community as well," said Montrose County Commissioner Mike McCracken.

Gordon thanked the city of Montrose for completing a project that increased the water-flow pressure in the area and the Montrose Economic Development Corp. for selling the company 0.7 acres for the new building.

"We do a lot of ribbon-cutting and ground-breaking ceremonies in our city, but this is one of the more exciting," Mayor Bill Brougham said. "We commend you and salute you."

Contact Mike Robuck via e-mail at miker@montrosepress.com.

Comments

marqthompson wrote on Feb 1, 2010 3:21 AM:

" This is a wonderful article. The things given are unanimous and needs to be appreciated by everyone.
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marqthompson
Noosa real estate "




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Kaitlyn Heichel wrote on Nov 3, 2009 2:01 PM:

" My dad was Robert Heichel and i just wanted to thank again everyone that helped looked for him. It was over 3 years ago that he died, but i will never forget him. I think about him still every single day and life without him is so hard. Thank you everyone who spent time looking for him. I wish this could have been a happy ending but life isn't fair. My dad died when i was 12 and i am now almost 16. Thank you again for everything you guys have done. Your amazing. "




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Sarah Bond wrote on Jul 13, 2009 5:31 PM:

" It really makes me sick that people lie about certain events to make themselves look better than they really are... Just to set the record straight, one of those stories is extremely false. Email me if you want the real story from the person who was actually there. "




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