Every time we put on deodorant, we can thank The Plastek Group. This Erie-based multi-national corporation provides 80 percent of the plastic oval deodorant stick containers in the United States, as well as a variety of other packaging products for the personal care, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, food & beverage, and home care industries.

?Many Erie workers also have good reason to thank The Plastek Group. Comprised of eight operating divisions, five of which are located in Erie, it is one of the largest employers in the region. Including its facility in Hamlet, North Carolina and its overseas locations in the United Kingdom and Brazil, The Plastek Group employs more than 1,700 people globally.

?The Plastek Group had its beginnings when Joseph J. Prischak gained his experience in the Molding and Tooling industry by working for Erie Resistor and Penn Erie Manufacturing. In 1956, he founded The Triangle Tool Company with two partners. The company developed into one of the foremost mold designers and manufacturers in the country, along the way developing many of the procedures that are used in today's tool industry.

In 1971, Prischak and his partners broke into the plastics field by establishing Plastek. "We made sure our customers were satisfied," says Prischak, "and it paid off for us when we won molding business from major corporations like Schick Safety Razor, Eastman Kodak, IBM, RCA Burroughs, and Polaroid."

?When his partners wanted to retire in 1983, Prischak was still going strong, had plans for expansion and bought his partners out. He later purchased Spectrum Molding and Engineering in 1985 thereby making his debut in the consumer packaging industry and deodorant sticks. Plastek went on to gain a good portion of the solid deodorant stick market and later innovated the development of the first lines of the clear gel anti-perspirant and soft solid deodorant containers released in North America.

Today, The Plastek Group has five locations in Erie: the Spectrum Molding Division (SMD) located in the same facility as corporate headquarters at 2425 West 23rd Street; the Consumer Products Division (CPD) on Pittsburgh Avenue; the Engineered Plastics Division (EPD) on West 15th Street; the Penn Erie (PED) Tooling Division on West 23rd Street; and the Triangle Tool Division (TTD) on West 22nd Street. Altogether, these locations total almost one million square feet of climate-controlled production and warehouse space in the USA and over one and a half million square feet globally.

The Plastek Group became a multi-national business in June 1999, when it opened its first location outside of the United States, Plastek UK, in Mansfield, England. It added another overseas location, Plastek do Brazil, in May 2000, opening a facility in Indaiatuba Brazil. Its latest division is the Hamlet Manufacturing Division (HMD) in Hamlet, North Carolina, which opened in July 2010.

?Prischak retired as President and CEO in 2002, but stays on as Chairman of the Board. Four of his sons now run the company with the same attention to detail and continuous improvement with which he built it. "We want to continuously perfect our performance in all areas," says Prischak, "including product, people, safety, and community."