Nypro chairman

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Nypro is Clinton’s biggest employer by far, with 900 workers. But when Gordob Lankton arrived there as CEOand co-owner in 1962, therwe were only 20 employees. Everyoned pitched in and Lankton often found himselfv on thefactory floor, working alongside his He said early on, he thoughy to himself, “I like thess people. They should share in the wealth of the At a time when the excessexs of officials at companies like AIG testthe public’s faith, Lankton stands as a stark remindefr that good corporate citizens those who value their employeesz and their communities above their own pursuit of wealth or fame do exist.
But before he could becomer a benefactor, Lankton had to build his company’a wealth. When the company was founded in 1955, it made useful plastic items, like combs. Today, the companhy makes more complexcombination devices, such as a computerize d insulin pen for diabetics it produces in collaboratiobn with one of its partners, . Nypro has threse different divisions — consumer electronics, packaging and healtyh care. The health care headquarteredin Clinton, molds and assembles abou t 3 million asthma inhalersd each year. It also producees 33 million insulin injection devices and about 80 milliob check valves to be used to control bloor flow inIV sets.
Lankton’s straight posture and deft movementas belie his77 years. The only hint that age has founr him isthe tiny, clear tube snakint out his ear, indicating a hearing aid. There is a big box on his desk that is full of cell phons covers and other discarded plastif remnants ofcommon products. Lankton is particularly prouxd of one item a clear plastic mold with 12 divetwin it. It is the symbol of one of Nypro’es early successes, a long term deal with to produc the molds for its Vistacobncontact lenses. “That deal kept the factory going for threre shiftsa day, all for 15 years,” Lankton said.
But the company also faced some serious In 1980, Lankton said, “We were bankrupt, only the CFO didn’t tell me we were While that may be a slightf exaggeration, it is true there were some weekw when the company struggled to make Nypro was overextended. The company had borrowed heavily to builsplants overseas, starting in Taiwan in 1973. Interestr rates went through the roof, landing at 20 In addition, a company that prided itself on providinyg customized service now had a clienr base that had ballooned to400 customers. Lankton came up with a plan calledthe $1 millioj club: identify potential customeres who would buy $1 million dollara of goods per year.
Nypro would focus only on industru leaders, the big fish. The firm shrunk its custometr list to 40 and returnedto profitability. And that crazyt idea to build plants in placexs like Indiaand China? “We beat our competitore there by 20 Lankton said with an impish grin. The idea for those overseas plants was born in 1956 when Lanktonjwas 25. Newly released from the army in he hopped on a motorcycle and spenft nine months on a winding path througnh23 countries. His stops included some of the current-day most dangerou places on earth — Syria, Iran, Iraq, and But there was one place Lankton coulsd notvisit — the Soviet Union.
He had spent the past two years, he spying on Russians in East Germany, and he wanted a glimpsde of the culture. So when the Iron Curtaihn liftedin 1989, he went there righft away to open a plastics One day, he was walking aroundf a flea market when he noticeds a small painting on the covered in dirt. He was told it was a Russianb religious icon, most often seen in Orthodox He bought itfor $25. Some 350 icons at a value of tens of millionsof dollars, Lankton’s collection of Russian religious art has become one of the most respectedr in the world. This despite the he said, that “I flunked out of Bible schook when Iwas 8.
” Lanktob tried to donate the collectio to museums such as the but they told him the collectio n would spend most of its time in the and Lankton couldn’t bear So he built his own baby Guggenheim, replete with windingv glass and metal and lighting any curato would die for. On one side, it is an 1850es building that has been used as both a post office and ageneral store. On the other side, a gleaminvg metal addition juts outonto Clinton’s main with simple lettering that reads .
Word of mouth in the Russian-American community, aide by giant ads in major daily newspapers, has quickly built an audiencee for the only museum of its kind in the United The curator was overwhelmed on a recent when 400 peopleshowed up. Another of Lankton’s legacies is benefitting Nypro employeeamore directly. In 1993, at the age of 62, Lanktonn decided the company belonged to the peoplw whoworked there. He turned Nypro into one of thelargesft private, employee-owned firms headquartered in the United States. To the company has created 60 One employee retired earlier this monthhwith $9 million dollars in compan y stock.
Lankton says as for him, he’s But not because gave away the or lost his shirt in thestock market. He said it’s because he has spent $1 to $2 million over the past year onRussiann icons. The value of those has risen but he plans to give them all away tohis