Daniel W. McGuire, Jr.
General Polymers
Inducted 2012
Dubbed by some in the plastics industry as “the father of resin distribution,” Daniel McGuire founded the first plastics resin distribution firm in North America. His vision was to create an organization to fill the gap between resin producers and small or medium-sized processors. This became the mission of Mr. McGuire’s company, General Polymers, and was adopted by subsequent competitors. In a 40-year plastics career, Daniel McGuire also played a leading role in the industry’s trade and professional associations and was consistently an enthusiastic supporter.
Before starting General Polymers in 1973, Daniel McGuire spent five years as vice president and general manager of Thermofil Inc. When he opened General Polymers, there were three employees and a 1200 sq. ft. warehouse. By his retirement in 1999, the company was shipping more than two billion pounds of resin per year from 26 suppliers and operating out of 22 regional warehouses with 400 employees. Today, plastics resin distribution is a $13-billion business.
Among Mr. McGuire’s business innovations was a year-long employee training program called “The Principles of Resin Distribution.” Another of his innovations was to cultivate opportunities for women in marketing positions. Well worth noting is that, following a fire that destroyed the business facility of Chroma Corporation, a competitor, Mr. McGuire, developed a plan to warehouse all of the company’s pigments, additives, and resins, which enabled Chroma to survive and grow while operating from a competitor’s plant.
Evidencing his strong commitment to SPE, the Society of Plastics Engineers, Mr. Maguire required all his salespeople and their managers to become members of their local SPE sections. One result was that, at one point, six of McGuire’s employees served as SPE section presidents. In another of his many efforts to help the plastics industry, Mr. McGuire and three other members of the Plastics Hall of Fame convinced Ferris State University to establish a plastics curriculum. Ferris State now has a highly successful four-year plastics engineering program, the largest plastics higher education program in the United States.
Areas of Expertise: Plastic materials