We had something cool happen this month: Services Plus turned 40! Forty years is a long time for a company to be in business. I’ve read that half of all companies fail in their first five years and about two-thirds fail within their first ten years. For us to be around this long, we’ve got to be doing something different. Well, we are!
Services Plus, Inc. was founded in 1984 by Marvin Schumacher, who was a local entrepreneur who had recently retired but was bored with retirement. Marvin acted quickly and wasn’t afraid of failure. Marvin led this way until the company grew and it no longer could “go off the paper” and he, again, was ready to move on. His sons, Mike and Tom, were involved in several of Marvin’s businesses growing up. Marvin taught them to be entrepreneurs just like he had been. Mike and Tom purchased Marvin’s shares of Services Plus in the early 1990’s and continued to grow the company rapidly.
Services Plus’s main customers throughout the history of the company have been some of the largest Consumer Packaged Goods companies (CPGs) in the world. The company started out as a contract packager for these companies, repackaging well-known branded consumer tissue products into retail-ready sizes that we all purchase from retail store shelves.
As Mike and Tom delivered for their customers, they grew the business, adding services such as distribution and fulfillment when their customers had needs and trusted Services Plus to solve their problems. Eventually, Mike and Tom were asked to consider serving as Contract Manufacturers for their customers, so they added two machines to produce facial tissue products from rolls supplied by local paper mills. Services Plus’s quick entry into and learning of this market provided more growth and tighter customer relationships.
After owning and running the company for nearly 25 years, Mike and Tom were looking for a way to retire and sell their share of Services Plus. They hired me, Tad Campana, in 2011, for leadership succession and ultimately sold me their shares of Services Plus, Inc. between 2018 and 2020.
We’ve continued to evolve Services Plus to better respond to our customers’ needs. Fast forward to today, when we are largely a contract manufacturer who also provides contract packaging services. Our customers have continued to ask us to produce their facial tissue brands and we’ve added manufacturing capabilities in the medical papers markets. We currently have eight paper converting lines that run daily.
The business is more stable from a demand standpoint since we’ve moved more to contract manufacturing – it was just too hard to manage labor in a total job shop contract packaging environment. This move benefits our employees as well as our customers. In the process of shifting the company towards contract manufacturing over the past ten years, we still differentiate ourselves with Marvin’s entrepreneurial spirit – we’re not afraid to try new things or make mistakes and learn from them, plus we act quickly.
I’m so happy to have been able to be a part of Services Plus’s first 40 years, even though I’ve only been here for about one-third of the company’s existence. We’ve got great customers, talented employees, and a Mission that calls us to a higher purpose: “Grow People, Please Customers.” There are easier ways to make a living, but I consider myself lucky to be doing what I was put on earth to do: lead Services Plus to growth and success.
Sincerely,
Tad Campana
President & Owner of Services Plus, Inc.