Northwest Aerospace News October | November Issue No. 5 | Page 40

General
Plastics
Making Lightweight Materials Do Tough Tasks
By Bryan Corliss
M
ovie buffs will remember the scene: a young Dustin Hoffman playing a recent
college graduate who’s approached by a friend of his father. The older man puts an arm
around his shoulders and pronounces, “Just one word – plastics. There’s a great future in
plastics.”
Turns out he was right.
A half century later, here in the real world, Tacoma-based General Plastics is soaring on
the strength of its polyurethane foam business.
“The push towards light-weighting and the use of composites is accelerating and that’s
really a benefit to us,” said Mitchell Johnson, the company’s CEO.
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NORTHWEST AEROSPACE NEWS