SEABROOK PLASTICS, INC.: Enhancing the Skills of New Leaders

Located in Norton Shores, Michigan, Seabrook Plastics, Inc., is a cutting-edge custom injection molding company. Founded in 1994 by Serge Cousin, the facility houses 25 injection molding machines within a 45,000-square-foot facility and employs 31.

Following various management changes, Seabrook Plastics wanted to ensure that all significant leadership duties were being fulfilled. They were aware of areas of weakness within the organization and thought this would be an opportune time to tackle them.

Seabrook Plastics was already engaged with the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center – West (The Center-West), part of the MEP National Network™, for a skills training project, so Cindy Kowalski, quality manager, and Craig Gray, controller, reached out to The Center-West to explore leadership training opportunities.

Seabrook Plastics engaged in six sessions of leadership training coordinated through Muskegon Community College and The Center-West. Nine team members, including shift supervisors, the operations manager, a quality manager, quality technicians and the controller participated, with Gray commenting, “As a long-time manager, I learned new ways of working with people and being more of a support person. I learned from the group what it meant to work as a team again.” Kowalski also commented on the training, stating, “I would highly recommend this class to anyone. Not only did I learn so much from this class, I learned a lot from my team.” Following this training, the team was able to identify weaknesses and learn how to empower their new leadership.