Dr. Brady is well known in the plastics and packaging industries as a technology innovator and founder of seven PTI-related companies. The flagship company, PTI, first opened its doors in 1985. Today, the companies employ 200 people worldwide and operate from corporate locations in Holland and Bowling Green, Ohio, as well as Yverdon, Switzerland.
“I thank SPE for this prestigious honor. I also would like to thank all of the employees at PTI who have made the company the plastics packaging thought leader it is today. My family also has played an important contribution. Their continued support throughout my career encouraged me to forge new paths,” Dr. Brady said.
Prior to founding PTI, Dr. Tom Brady was vice president of plastics technology for Owen-Illinois, Inc (O-I). There, he led the development of the first PET soft drink containers and directed the technical activities of O-I’s plastic product lines.
As a researcher at O-I, Dr. Tom Brady was part of the team that studied molecular orientation in PET and the stretch blow molding process. The culmination of this pioneering work was the introduction of the first continuous rotary reheat stretch blow molding machine in the United States. This led to the commercialization of PET as a preferred option for many rigid packaging applications.
Dr. Tom Brady’s initial vision for PTI was to provide technical development services for those wishing to enter the PET arena. The resulting projects continued to fuel commercialization’s for PET containers and bottles.
Never satisfied with the status quo, Dr. Brady also pushed for the development of recycling technology. Phoenix Technologies was formed in 1992 and is now one of the largest global recyclers of PET for bottle and blow molding applications.
Over the span of his career, Dr. Tom Brady has been active in the Society of Plastics Engineers, the International Plastics Processing Society, the American Chemical Society and The Ohio Polymer Strategies Council. Additionally, he has served on the Industrial Advisory Boards for The Materials Science Department at the University of Michigan and for the Colleges of Engineering and Arts and Sciences at UT.
Currently, he is the interim dean of the University of Toledo’s Judith Herb College of Education.
Dr. Brady earned his Ph. D. in plastic materials engineering from the University of Michigan and his master’s and bachelor’s engineering science degrees from Dartmouth College.
Feb 6, 2012, Forbes Magazine
Who is The Entrepreneur: Dr. Tom Brady (on large company experience)
Gregg Fairbrothers and Catalina Gorla, Contributors
Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.
Here is the conversation Catalina recently had with Dr. Thomas Brady, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Plastic Technologies, Inc. (PTI).
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Dr. Thomas Brady is Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Plastic Technologies, Inc. (PTI), and oversees the operations of six other PTI companies engaged in specialty manufacturing, advanced product development and technology licensing. Founded in 1985, PTI and its companies employ 200 people worldwide and PTI is recognized internationally for its expertise in plastic packaging technology. Prior to founding PTI, Dr. Brady was Vice President of Plastics Technology for Owens-Illinois, Inc. where he led the development of the first PET plastic soft container and directed the technical activities for O-I’s plastic product lines. Dr. Brady was also founding chair of the Northwest Ohio Regional Technology Alliance (RTA), which was eventually merged with the Regional Growth Partnership. Catalina Gorla and I are still trying to figure out who is the entrepreneur, and Dr. Brady looks to have all the qualifications.
Catalina: You started PTI in 1985 after working for Owen-Illinois. What was it like deciding to go on your own, and then what did it take to make the leap?
Tom: I was first exposed to entrepreneurship in an undergraduate engineering course at Dartmouth, where we were presented with a “gap” in the commercial world and where were asked to fill that gap by proposing a solution, developing a prototype process or product, and then selling that solution as a commercially viable business. I went to the University of Michigan, earning a Ph.D. in plastic materials engineering in 1972. After graduation, I joined Owens-Illinois, where I was almost immediately asked to lead the technical development of a family-sized plastic carbonated soft drink container which wasn’t technically or economically possible in metal or glass but which was theoretically possible in plastic—another “gap” in the commercial world.
By the early 1980s, we had established an entirely new business making PET (polyester) containers for high-performance packaging applications. Still, it wasn’t long before the soft drink brand owners began exploring ways to save money by taking the bottle-making business in-house. A bottling company approached me and asked me to help them to manufacture their own bottles. By that time, my wife Betsy and I had established a comfortable life, and we were raising three children ages 6-13. But in 1985, the PET industry was new. It was growing at double-digit rates, and there were few technology experts worldwide—it was another “gap” for me to fill. Staying with Owens-Illinois and going with the bottling company were both attractive choices, but in the end I decided to start my own company with a focus on PET container technology.
Catalina: What was it like when you started your company?
Tom: Like many entrepreneurs, I began as a company of one person. I was Chairman, CEO, President, Chief Engineer, and Customer Service Manager; I was also the accountant and the janitor. I joked that my wife should buy a new car because she might never get another one. But we prospered over the last twenty-six years. The PTI Family of Companies now includes two manufacturing companies, two technical development and engineering service companies and three joint venture companies that license technology or sell specialty services to the packaging industry.
We have more than 200 employees worldwide and many of the products you buy every day are sold in plastic containers designed by one of our companies. Interestingly, all of the other PTI companies were the “brainchildren” of PTI employees. Today we remain a private, employee-owned company and only a handful of professional employees have left us over our 26-year history.
