On October 11, Polydeck Screen Corp. celebrated its 40th anniversary at the company’s Spartanburg, South Carolina, campus. It was a two-day celebration attended by employees, partners and affiliates.
The anniversary merits both gratitude and praise, Peter Freissle, president, Polydeck, said in the opening speech. “The purpose of this event is to celebrate success and thank God,” he said. “Less than 0.5% of companies make it to this point in their careers.”
Company literature traces Polydeck’s history to 1959 when Freissle met Helmut Rosenbusch on the former’s second day in Johannesburg. Freissle said the meeting was an answered prayer for a teenager who had arrived in South Africa broke and had spent the previous night at a homeless shelter. Rosenbusch was a third-generation screen manufacturer with ambitions of launching his own business. The two Germans clicked and shortly thereafter Screenex South Africa launched.
Roughly 10 years later, the company developed a prototype polyurethane screen panel. The technology gradually gained acceptance and grew in popularity and demand. Polydeck Screen Corp. launched in 1978.
The company has continued to grow globally and opened facilities in Chile. That growth saw a more pronounced uptick in the recent past. “More than 50% of you sitting in this room as employees have joined us in the last five years,” Freissle said.
Throughout, the company remained private and family-owned. “We have the shortest lead time in the industry and the best quality in the industry, because of you guys,” Freissle said. “We’re part of something really special. Every one of you made this possible for us and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
