Leader Views

A Match Made at KEP Some call it a match made in heaven – we call it a match made at KEP! It's not unheard of for our employees to find their life-long career AND spouse when they begin working here! With the festivity of Valentine's Day, we thought we'd take a moment...

Proud to Support the Growth & Expansion of Local Non-Profit While it's usually our customers and KEP who benefit from our regular Kaizen events, one of these continuous improvement events that we recently participated in looked a bit different. We actually had the...

January 2022 Anniversaries  We are so excited to celebrate 13 employee anniversaries for the new year! Join us in celebrating the KEP team members with anniversaries this month. Of this group, David Martin, weekend shift leader at Kent, and Yolanda Brinkley, Custom...

The Harmony of Nature and Business Rubber improves lives across the globe. Consider where we’d be without rubber to create sturdy shoes, medical tubing, or car tires! As a rubber products manufacturer, we believe in the power of our products. At KEP, we are also proud...

Gary Denning became a Tender in our Kent facility after working as a Custom Dip Operator. His favorite part of working in his new role is that he doesn’t stay in one place all the time – rather, he gets to handle a variety of tasks throughout the day. Not only is Gary...

Amanda Trolio is an employee at our Winesburg facility. Amanda started in latex tubing in August 2021 and is currently working in extrusion packaging tourniquet bands. We can count on Amanda to work hard to produce products that KEP is proud to stand behind. She is...

Welcome, Bobby! Bobby Dalton recently joined our Kent facility's team as National Sales Manager. In this role, Bobby will serve as a point of contact for customers, coordinate with our internal departments, help us meet goals and more. He is excited to play a pivotal...

Congrats, Chris! Congratulations to Chris Rohrer on her promotion to Manager of Winesburg Operations. Chris has served in previous roles for 20+ years in Winesburg, including shipping coordinator and group leader. She is looking forward to working in the production...

Congrats, Cheri! Please join us in congratulating Cheri Thompson on her promotion to Director of Winesburg Operations! Cheri has held several previous roles in our facility, including Manager of Winesburg Operations, 1st shift supervisor, Administrative Assistant,...

The Final Countdown! We can't wrap up 2021 without giving a shout out to the final group of KEP team members who are celebrating anniversaries this year! Out of December's group, we have two team members who have been with us for over two decades – Carlos Johnson, a...

Josh Harstine recently became our newest supervisor at our Winesburg facility! Before being promoted to this role, Josh worked as a line coach, backup maintenance tech and a material handler. Josh embraces the challenge of helping to lead KEP into the future and guide...

November 2021 Anniversaries We're so thankful for all of our hardworking team members who are celebrating anniversaries! In the spotlight this month are two team members who have been at KEP for 20+ years – Don Tomello, a tender at our Kent facility, and Gregory...

Veterans Day This Veterans Day, KEP gave thanks to all of the veterans who have served our country as part of the armed forces. We can't talk about these honorable folks without giving a special shout out to the veterans on the KEP team!Throughout the years KEP has...

Mike Jones, a Supervisor at our Kent facility, has been a part of the team for 12 years this month! Mike previously held roles as a custom dip and dip room operator. Mike wanted to learn both sides of our business to eventually become a supervisor – which he did! Mike...

October 2021 Anniversaries We're not going to let "Spooky Season" pass us by without celebrating KEP team members with October anniversaries. It would be awfully frightening to not have these awesome people on our teams! Out of this spooky great group, Brenda Carrick...

You can expect to find Kent Elastomer Products food grade tubing in a wide variety of places where food is served, from sporting events to restaurants and cafes. KEP offers flexible tubing products for dairy and beverages in a broad array of sizes, colors, compounds,...

A Successful Kaizen Event For the Ben Curtis Family Foundation KEP brought our A-team out – which has had hundreds of successful Kaizen events – to partner with a local nonprofit, the Ben Curtis Family Foundation, to reevaluate their warehouse. The goal of these...

2019 Autumn Anniversaries  Many highly anticipated events come in September – from the release of your favorite pumpkin spice coffee flavors to the leaves beginning to change colors. While we think those things are great, nothing tops our team member anniversaries at...

Cheri Thompson, a KEP team member for 35 years, currently holds a role as Manager of Winesburg Operations. Cheri works hard to coordinate team member responsibilities with our customers' requirements in order to keep our business on track – and our customers happy!...

Dylan Bowman, an assembler at our Mogadore facility, has been a KEP team member for two years this September! Dylan is a consistent and hardworking team member whose responsibilities include assembling our custom coil products to our customers' exacting...

August 2021 Anniversaries As students head back to the classroom this fall, many returning to in-person learning for the first time in over a year, learning together again is a main focus. Our employees might not be in the classroom anymore – but they know a thing or...

Ana Isabel Diaz-Rangel is approaching her one year anniversary with KEP! An assembler in our Mogadore facility, Ana's hard work and dedication to high-quality helps us exceed expectations and maintain assembly as a value-added service for our customers. Ana's advice...

July 2021 Anniversaries With the Summer Olympic Games kicking off this month we're already cheering on Team USA, who's been preparing for their chance at Gold and to represent our great country – but we will always celebrate the hardworking teams in our facilities,...

June 2021 Anniversaries We're all getting ready to see the night sky lit up with fireworks and sparklers – but at KEP, our team members are the spark that keeps our facilities shining every day! Please join us in celebrating another amazing group with anniversaries...

Mizusa Hagen joined the KEP team 2 years ago – and we hope to keep her for many more! Mizusa works as an assembler in our Mogadore facility where her primary focus is assembling products with tight tolerances and critical surface quality requirements. Dedicated to...

Challenges ... and all the details.  Greg Graham, KEP Director of Extrusion Operations, is ALL about the details. From answering capability questions to walking customers through the manufacturing process – Greg dives into the details to determine the most efficient...