Pearce Plastics in the News
From the San Gabriel Valley Tribune
January 29, 2010
Pearce Plastics owner's innovation can't be contained
By Kevin Smith, Staff Writer
Woodrow Wilson Pearce 90, CEO/President of Pearce Plastics Inc., in
Pasadena holding two of his plastic container products next to a
section of his products that the company produces Friday January 29,
2010. Pearce has been in the manufacturing business for decades. His
company makes plastic jars, lids that are used primarily in the
cosmetics industry. (SGVN/Staff photo by Walt Mancini) PASADENA — Woody Pearce is brimming with ideas. Always has been.
And these days, the Glendale entrepreneur and owner of Pearce Plastics Inc. in Pasadena is still going strong - even at the age of 90.
Pearce, whose full name is Woodrow Wilson Pearce, founded his first company in 1945, making architectural models for building contractors and architects.
These days, his 30,000- square-foot Pearce Plastics facility employs 12 workers and manufactures a variety of plastic jars and lids that are used primarily in the cosmetics industry.
"We have 10 injection-molding machines and we make 35 different types of caps and jars, from a half-ounce size to four ounces," Pearce said. "They're made in cyber colors."
Pearce also produces venting caps (with flip-top openings), as well as rings and reducers that are used in plastic containers for personal care merchandise and in the food and drug industries.
Pearce Plastics has a utility patent on its venting cap technology.
"He's quite an inventor," said Frederick Gotha, a patent and trademark attorney in Pasadena. "He's very interested in patent law. And if you've ever been to his office, he's going up and down the stairs probably 20 to 25 times a day"
Born in Walnut Ridge, Ark., Pearce attended high school through the 10th grade, but was forced to drop out of school to help support his family during the Depression.
He later headed west where he went to work for Lockheed as a weld component assembler. Ultimately, he gravitated from welding to pattern making, and eventually to model making.
Early on, Pearce's business was located in Hollywood, where he made prototypes for the plastic industry. If someone had an idea for a product and wanted to see and test it … Pearce could produce it.
"I even made some prototypes for the movie industry," he said. "I made a top hat for the movie 'Singing in the Rain.'"
Throughout his career, Pearce has been an innovator.
One evening while mixing a batch of plastic, the material began to overheat. Looking to prevent a fire, he threw some sand into the mixture.
The resulting mixture looked much like marble. And by adding some color, he ended up producing the synthetic marble that's used in most homes today.
But his sense of invention didn't stop there.
Pearce later developed the first double-wall plastic pet food dish for The Carnation Co, as well as an automatic pet feeder. The feeder and subsequent dispenser later became the forerunner of every automatic water and food dispenser made.
Clorox also has a license to use Pearce's venting patent on its products.
"I'm one of the only manufacturers left in Pasadena," he said. "I hope that I can inspire people and give them encouragement."
And his health?
"I don't have an achy bone in my body," he said. "I'm still going … and will keep on going."
Read the original story on the San Gabriel Valley Tribune's website.