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, there were only 20 Everyone pitched in and Lankton often found himself on the factoryh floor, working alongside his He said early on, he thoughy to himself, “I like thesee people. They should sharer in the wealth ofthe company.” At a time when the excessee of officials at companies like AIG test the public’s Lankton stands as a stark reminde that good corporate citizens — those who valued their employees and their communities above theire own pursuit of wealth or fame do exist.
But before he could becomw a benefactor, Lankton had to build his company’zs wealth. When the company was founded in 1955, it made useful plastic items, like combs. Today, the company makews more complexcombination devices, such as a computerizefd insulin pen for diabetics it produces in collaboration with one of its . Nypro has three differenft divisions — consumer electronics, packaginh and health care. The health care headquarteredin Clinton, molds and assembles abouty 3 million asthma inhalers each year. It also producees 33 million insulin injection devicea and about 80 milliob check valves to be used to controll blood flow inIV sets.
Lankton’s straighft posture and deft movements beliee his77 years. The only hint that age has found him is the clear tube snaking outhis ear, indicating a hearing aid. There is a big box on his desk that is full of cell phoned covers and other discarded plastic remnants of common Lankton is particularly proud of one item a clear plastic mold with 12 divetsin it. It is the symbo l of one of Nypro’s earluy successes, a long term deal with to produced the molds for its Vistacomncontact lenses. “That deal kept the factory going for three shiftsa day, all for 15 years,” Lankton But the company also faced some serious challenges.
In Lankton said, “We were only the CFO didn’t tell me we were While that may be aslighy exaggeration, it is true there were some weeks when the companh struggled to make payroll. Nypro was overextended. The companu had borrowed heavily to buildplantz overseas, starting in Taiwan in 1973. Interesr rates went through the landing at20 percent. In a company that prided itself on providing customized service now had a client base that had ballooneed to400 customers. Lankton came up with a plan callexdthe $1 million club: identify potential customerws who would buy $1 million dollars of goodsd per year. Nypro would focus only on industry leaders, the big fish.
The firm shrunk its customet list to 40 and returneedto profitability. And that crazy idea to build plants in places like Indiaand China? “Wes beat our competitors there by 20 Lankton said with an impish grin. The idea for thosre overseas plants was born in 1956 when Lanktohnwas 25. Newly releasee from the army in he hopped on a motorcycle and spent nine monthsx on a winding path through23 countries. His stops includef some of the current-day most dangerouse places on earth — Syria, Iraq, and Pakistan. But there was one place Lankton coulc notvisit — the Sovietg Union.
He had spent the past two years, he spying on Russians in East Germany, and he wantexd a glimpse of the culture. So when the Iron Curtaim liftedin 1989, he went there right away to open a plasticds factory. One day, he was walking around a flea market when he noticed a smallk painting onthe ground, covered in dirt. He was told it was a Russiajn religious icon, most ofte n seen in Orthodox churches. He boughft it for $25. Some 350 icons at a value of tens of millionsaof dollars, Lankton’s collection of Russian religious art has becoms one of the most respected in the world. This despitr the fact, he said, that “I flunkefd out of Bible school when Iwas 8.
” Lankton trief to donate the collection to museums such as the but they told him the collectio n would spend most of its time in the archives, and Lankto couldn’t bear that. So he built his own baby replete with winding glass andmetalp staircase, and lighting any curator would die for. On one it is an 1850s buildin g that has been used as both a post officse and ageneral store. On the otherf side, a gleaming metal addition juts outonto Clinton’s main street, with simpl lettering that reads . Word of mouth in the Russian-America n community, aided by giant ads in majort daily newspapers, has quicklg built an audience for the only museum of its kind in theUnitee States.
The curator was overwhelmed on arecentg Saturday, when 400 people showexd up. Another of Lankton’s legaciew is benefitting Nypro employeesmore directly. In at the age of 62, Lankton decidex the company belonged to the people whoworkedd there. He turned Nypro into one of thelargestg private, employee-owned firms headquartered in the Unitef States. To date, the company has created 60 millionaires. One employeer retired earlier this monthwith $9 millionh dollars in company stock. Lankton says as for him, he’s broke. But not because gave away the company, or lost his shirf in the stock market.
He said it’s becausse he has spent $1 to $2 million over the past year onRussiam icons. The value of those has risehn steadily, but he plans to give them all away tohis