Made in the Suburbs: CV-TEK RapidPak
Q: Describe your company. What product(s) do you make and what are they used for?
A: Our products are all MAP (Modified Atmospheric Packaging). They extend product freshness by elimination of oxygen and flushing the product with a inert gas. We make automatic and semi-automatic packaging machines for many industry segments, with the food industry being our primary market.
Q: Describe the process of making your products.
A: We are a vertically integrated company, which means, we have an in-house engineering team to design our products. We also have a complete machine shop, welding group and fabrication group to make all of the parts for our machines as well as an assembly team to build the machines and we service our equipment globally from our Elgin facility to support our machines throughout their life cycle.
Q: Do you plan to hire any additional staff or make any significant capital investments in your company in the next year?
A: We just completed a move to our current facility, from our old location also in Elgin. That included an expansion of our machine shop and the addition of 15 staff. We plan to add an additional 12 people in 2023.
Q: Do you have enough space in your current facility or are you looking to expand/find a new facility?
A: With our move to this facility in 2022, we are in good shape for a few years.
Q: What will your company's main challenges be in the next year?
A: I think we face the same challenges as many companies: hiring of good talent, supply chain shortages and employee retention.
Q: What's the hottest trend in your industry?
A: Our industry keeps moving forward on high hygienic design requirements and development of equipment to reduce labor content.
Q: Do you have a business mantra?
A: Yes, we do. "Our Customers come first followed by our Employees" our belief is that these two groups are the most important to focus on and if we are successful, all the other things that we traditionally focus on will fall in line with our success.
Q: What is one interesting fact about your company that most people may not know?
A: That we have been a suburban-based company from the start of the company.
Q: What are the benefits to you of making your product(s) here in the Chicago suburbs?
A: This area has great people that make great employees and a central location for not just the United States but globally from our airport.
Q: If you could make any product other than what you do make, what would it be?
A: I have been in the packaging industry for 30 plus years. The customers are great, the industry is always evolving, I cannot think of another product we should consider making.
Q: If you could pick someone famous to promote your product, who would it be?
A: I would say Frank Sinatra. We both are doing it our way.
CV-TEK RapidPak
404 S. McLean Blvd., Elgin
(847) 741-3500
www.CV-TEK.com
Industry: Packing machinery
Annual revenue: $40 million
Number of employees: 84