NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FOR MORE INFORMATION

Jeanie Ashe
360-567-3180
jashe@credc.org

Krista Hildebrand
503-647-4868
khildebrand@frause.com

NEW PLASTICS MANUFACTURER JOINS GROWING INDUSTRY CLUSTER IN

SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON
SmaK Plastics opens new plant in Clark County

VANCOUVER, Wash. (April 7, 2008) – The recent opening of SmaK Plastics, a rotational
molding manufacturer, adds to the growing cluster of plastics manufacturers located in Clark
County, Wash., bringing the total number of companies in the industry sector to 25. The newly-
formed company specializes in playground equipment, water sports equipment, and
aftermarket parts for snowmobiles and motorcycles.
“Southwest Washington is the ideal location for our new business,” said Jon
Smalley, owner of SmaK Plastics. “Not only is it a hotbed of qualified workers, but the
central location is critical for transporting our products to customers.”
The majority of the SmaK Plastics’ customers are located throughout the Northwest.
Because most orders are trucked to customers, the Interstate-5 corridor, the main north-
south transportation route on the West Coast, is an extremely important logistics asset for the
company. Clark County, located in southwest Washington State, is at the center of a major
transportation hub in the Northwest. In addition to its location on Interstate-5, it is minutes away
from Interstate-84, the main east-west transportation route. The region also is served by
marine, rail and air cargo transportation connections. It is home to the Port of Vancouver, the

(more)
Port of Camas-Washougal and the Port of Ridgefield and is just minutes away from the Portland
International Airport.
Jon Smalley and his partner Eric Kunz have more than 30 years of rotational molding
experience. They have leased a 25,000-square-foot facility in the Olin Business Park located in
the Vancouver, Wash., the county seat and the primary population center. Smalley and Kunz
anticipate hiring 25 workers when the plant is up and running in June of this year.
Other major plastics manufacturers located in southwest Washington include: Andersen
Plastics; Attbar Inc.; KASO Plastic Inc.; Piller Plastics Inc.; and Promans.

About Clark County, Washington

Clark County is located in the southwest section of Washington State across the Columbia River from
Portland, Ore. The region is becoming well known for such established and emerging industry clusters
as:
• High-tech, including semiconductor, electronics and solar energy manufacturing;

• General manufacturing, including metals and plastics;

• Professional services, including financial centers, customers support and data centers; and

• Corporate headquarters.

Clark County is home to such world-class companies as: Heraeus Shin-Etsu America, Hewlett Packard,
Kokusai Semiconductor, Kyocera, nLight Photonics, Linear Technology, SEH America, Underwriter
Laboratories, and Sharp Microelectronics, to name a few. World-class companies also have located their
headquarters in Clark County. These include: Christensen Shipyards, Columbia Machine, Northwest
Pipe, Thompson Metal Fabricators, Nautilus Group, Papa Murphy’s, and WaferTech.

###