How an Indiana-based drinking straw manufacturer keeps operations local
In an Indiana warehouse area on Lafayette's north end, little plastic chips are fed into a machine to be colored red and spun into the shape of a drinking straw. As the long, continuous straw makes its way down the line, it is pinched off into segments that are then rolled onto a conveyor belt.
Standing at the end of the line, Kenny Huddleston, an employee of Rio Manufacturing Company, in partnership with the Wabash Center, works to pack the bagged straws into boxes.
It's a job Huddleston enjoys, he said. Getting hands-on work experience for community members like Huddleston is one of Wabash Center's goals, Wabash Center CFO Jill Blumhoff said, helping them to build their skills to enter the Greater Lafayette workforce, if that's what they ultimately desire.
The fact that the job opportunity comes from a local business founded by a local William Henry Harrison High School graduate, Blumhoff said, is a bonus.
And as it turns out, many of those straws being made in Lafayette are staying local, too.
A profit of $1.2 million by the age of 21
When Rio Manufacturing owner Ashton Partridge graduated from Harrison in 2012, he began a distribution business called Logistic Products.
It wasn't the most creative name, Partridge said, but it was enough to get his foot in the door in supplying paper goods.
Partnering with a family that owned and operated dozens of gas stations, Partridge's company supplied paper products, like toilet paper and paper towels, to their locations across the Midwest.
Within the first three years, Partridge said his company had netted over $1.2 million in sales.
"That was crazy for someone right out of high school," Partridge said. "But then COVID happened."
The short supply and panic buying of toilet paper and paper towels was something Partridge said his company dealt with, too. Unable to continue the operation of logistics, Partridge said he decided to pivot into manufacturing.
But what would he make and sell?
"I was sitting there looking at what we were selling, and I could see that a big sector of our sales were the big, 32-ounce cups," Partridge said. "I wanted to follow the line of popularity with drinks, and that's when I began looking into straws."
Partridge said he found that with the right equipment, he could competitively offer straws to businesses for $15 for a box of 2,000. He found that he could also offer biodegradable straws. Made from plant starch with the same feel of a regular plastic straw, Partridge said he found he could offer those at about $23 for a box of 2,000.
But where would he find the workforce?
All a matter of timing
About the same time Partridge was working to figure out the next steps in his business, the Wabash Center was in the process of redesigning its workshop, Blumhoff said.
At the time, partnership work with Wabash to manufacture shims was coming to an end, and Wabash Center, a nonprofit that aims to support children and adults with disabilities, was seeking another business to begin partnering with.
A mutual connection Partridge shared with Wabash Center CEO Jason McManus turned out to be just what they needed.
"Ashton came at the right time as we were trying to figure out what we were going to do with that space, and we were working to move some of that shim work out of the building, so that made room for Rio Manufacturing," Blumhoff said. "Overall, it fit exactly with what we were needing."
On a full run of the straw-making machine, two to three people are able to work at a time to package and box the product, with pay for Rio Manufacturing's employees through the Wabash Center starting at $15 per hour.
And many of those straws made in Lafayette are bought and stay local, too, Partridge said. Through partnering with Delco Foods, a food product supplier based in Whitestown, Partridge said he was able to work with several local businesses around the state.
One of those local businesses included Azzip Pizza, the Indiana-based pizza business founded by former Purdue football player Brad Niemeier.
Blake Kollker, director of food and purchasing for Azzip Pizza, said much like Wabash Center's experience, an email he received from Partridge about his company's drinking straws came "at the right time."
Local, local, local
In the last year, Azzip needed a supplier who could offer the business kid-sized straws to go with its drink sizes, something Kollker said Rio Manufacturing could accommodate.
The other perk, too, Kollker said, was that the straws were customizable. Lining the purchase up with Azzip's yellow branding, he said, was something they hadn't expected could be a possibility.
"We'd been having a difficult time with our supplier for our straws here in Evansville, and the cold email I received from Ashton was at the absolute perfect time. It showed us we had other options," Kollker said. "He sent us some samples and they were great. At the time, I had no idea about the partnership with the Wabash Center, but honestly that's just the cherry on top of all of this."
Lining up with Azzip's philosophy of pouring back into the communities its stores are in, Kollker said the partnership with another local business that aims to support its community was a no-brainer decision.
At a recent visit with Indiana Chamber of Commerce President Vanessa Green Sinders, Kollker said Sinders asked Evansville-area businesses what the state could do to help small businesses grow.
Kollker's solution? Identify local partnerships like he discovered with Partridge's Lafayette-based manufacturing business.
"Any time you can help out someone you know is your neighbor, even within the state, it should be a no-brainer," Kollker said. "You are helping to build them up while you're growing your business as well. The best, though, I think, is that when you're working with another small business, you always know they're going to pick up the phone when you're in need."
Although Partridge said he's always looking for new growth opportunities in manufacturing, currently eyeing the iced beverage cups market, he sees the value in keeping his business local.
"The folks here at the Wabash Center are just amazing, and we have a lot of people that need employment," Partridge said. "Our goal is to build up. If we can identify other local businesses who are interested in doing that, too, then that's what matters, and we want to grow with them."
Jillian Ellison is a reporter for the Journal & Courier. She can be reached via email at jellison@gannett.com.