.bodytext {float: left; } .floatimg-left-hort { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right: 10px; width:300px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 10px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} At age 27, Josh Janeczko purchased Innovative Injection Technologies Inc. from Morton Industrial Group with his father, Bob. A business management graduate from the University of Northern Iowa, Janeczko worked in manufacturing in Raleigh, N.C., and Peoria, Ill., before moving to Des Moines. Since he and his father purchased the West Des Moines company, which makes plastic parts for vehicles, such as tractors, snowmobiles and personal watercraft, Josh Janeczko has moved his way through several areas in the business, including quality improvement, shipping and receiving and overall operations. Now the 31-year-old has been promoted to general manager.

How have your responsibilities changed?

Now I have responsibility for sales, project engineering, finance. Before I was always the shop floor presence and my dad was the front office presence. He dealt with the customers; I dealt with production performance. Now we’re interested in growing our business, and in order to do that, he needs to focus on the growth of our business externally, and I’m focused on it more internally.

What led to this new strategy?

Just timing. We started the business four years ago, and as we continue to succeed, we are looking for growth opportunities. We don’t know what it will be yet; we’re just out looking. We have no plans to expand our existing footprint, but rather through the replacement of old machines with new technologies. We’re trying to maximize our utilization of our equipment and assets, and by doing that, we’re able to grow our revenue line without any massive capital expenditures. We started our business with 132 employees, and now we’re averaging between 142 and 150. We had $19 million in revenues when we bought the business, and now it’s grown to $26 million.

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in the Quad Cities. My dad worked for Deere & Co. When I graduated from high school, he took a different position with Morton Metalcraft Co. in Morton, Ill., a suburb of Peoria. I actually worked at John Deere as well. This company is one of John Deere’s largest plastic suppliers in the Midwest, especially for agriculture. About 35 percent of our business is with John Deere. About 35 percent is with Arctic Cat and probably 15 percent is with Kawasaki and the rest is miscellaneous.

What is it like working with your father?

I’ve done it all my life. I have two brothers and a sister and they think I’m nuts. We definitely have our bad days, but it’s fun. Most of our issues come from our difference in how we want things run. We’re a different generation and we see things differently and that’s what makes our company strong.

Was taking over a company in your late 20s a challenge for you?

I have worked my way through the company and have learned the business from within. There has been a significant transition time period of four to five years that we have been planning this. Our employees, customers and suppliers all hear the same thing: My dad is going to retire in 2010 and he’s going to sell the business to me. And we’re going to keep this business here for the long term. Mergers and acquisitions are a very popular thing right now and we probably get four calls a month to sell our business. It’s not something we’re interested in.

What direction would you like to take this company?

I would like to see this business grow here. I have a 5-year-old, a 1-year-old and one that’s due very soon. I’m at a point in my life where I like being at home. I like Des Moines. I want to grow this business through organic growth, through just taking care of our customers and employees. I have no desire to be the plastics giant of the Midwest. I would rather just work every day and play a little golf in between and spend time with my family.

What do you believe the state could do to promote advanced manufacturing?

I’m a member at Des Moines Golf [& Country Club] and I think I met one person that makes something other than me. Everybody does something in finance or insurance. Nobody makes anything anymore in this town. It’s discouraging that manufacturing jobs have gone down significantly. We are seeing that younger generations have no interest in manufacturing. So what are we doing about it? Immigration. What can our city, state and federal governments do? Resolve this very controversial and heavily debated issue called immigration. About 40 percent of our employees are non-Caucasian.