Finalist
Emerging
Michael Lyons, the president of SimPak International LLC, found his way into the packaging industry through a phone book.
Lyons dreamed of being a doctor while in high school, but after a co-op at a hospital and a talk with an experienced doctor, Lyons decided he wasn’t cut out for a career in medicine. So he opened a phone book and started looking for a new opportunity in a new business.
His eyes were drawn to packaging companies due to the steady need for their products — nothing gets shipped without first being packed. With that in mind, Lyons started his first packaging company at age 19. After a year of sometimes-bumpy learning, he closed the company and went to work at established packaging companies, learning a great deal about the ins and outs of the industry.
But eventually, his entrepreneurial spirit welled up again, and he left to start Creative Packaging, a foam packaging company. It was the foam scraps created during the product process that inspired him to begin producing SimPads, a reusable, low-cost packaging solution that led to the format of SimPak International.
Lyons sold Creative Packaging and threw all of his energy into developing SimPak and the SimPads product line.
Lyons and his staff take a great deal of pride in the fact that SimPads are a “green” product that helps reduce both industrial and consumer waste. SimPak expects to use 1 million cubic feet of scrap foam in 2010, preventing 277 truckloads of scrap foam from entering landfills.
The quality of Lyons’ product along with word-of-mouth marketing and a team of dedicated employees have helped SimPak increase sales 10 times from 2007 to 2009. As SimPak works to increase its manufacturing capacity, new markets continue to open for the company.
How to reach: SimPak International LLC, (502) 664-9594 or www.simpakinternational.com
