nothin New Haven Independent | American Polyfilm, Inc: A Win-Win for Branford

American Polyfilm, Inc: A Win-Win for Branford

Diana Stricker Photo

A Branford family who founded a specialty plastics business 18 years ago, celebrated the completion of a new state-of-the-art facility in their home town this week, one that will more than double their manufacturing capacity.

Victor Cassella, who founded American Polyfilm, Inc. in 1998, said Wednesday that his company’s growth is a part of a new trend in manufacturing.

In the past few years, we heard a lot of doom and gloom about the decline of the manufacturing economy, but we have a different idea about what’s happening here,” Cassella said at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. We see a rebirth of manufacturing in America and I believe we’re headed in the right direction. It’s not with growth from big corporations with thousands of employees but with small corporations that make high-value products.”

American Polyfilm produces specialty films that are used in thousands of products worldwide. The new 28,000 square-foot building at 15 Baldwin Drive houses manufacturing, warehousing and offices. The building overlooks rolling hills in a bucolic setting off a cul-de-sac.

So this is the future of made in America’ and I’m proud to be part of it, and proud to be part of the Branford community that helped make it happen,” Cassella said at the building’s official dedication. And I’m also proud of my family — none of this would be possible without them.”

Two generations of the Cassella family own and operate the company. Victor serves as president, and his sons Matthew and Paul are vice-presidents. Matthew’s wife Larysa serves as secretary.

Diana Stricker Photo

The Cassella family is pictured at the ribbon-cutting above from left, Victor’s wife Marilyn; Matthew; Victor and Paul.

Family Commitment

Starting a new business from scratch wasn’t easy, but family members were committed to the business and to staying in Branford.

Cassella told the Eagle he never envisioned a new facility like this when he started the business in a rental space 18 years ago. It was a tough start-up. We started from scratch. It took five solid years to get it going steady.”

Both sons echoed sentiments about the challenge of the first five years. We started with zero customers. It was a long start-up,” Matthew Cassella said. He said early investors weren’t committed to the long haul and the family bought out them out.

American Polyfilm now ships to customers worldwide in Europe, New Zealand, Australia, China and Singapore. The company produces made-to-order blown polyurethane film that is used in medical products, waterproof clothing, and nautical and aviation products. It’s a pretty divergent product,” Matthew Cassella said.

Diana Stricker Photo

The photo above shows the specialty plastic being blown in a 55-foot tower and turned into film. There are currently 22 employees, up from 13 in recent months. Some manufacturing is still ongoing at the lease facility, on Business Park Drive but will be moved to the new building in the coming months. The equipment runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Diana Stricker Photo

Paul Cassella said he was watching people’s reaction to the manufacturing operations during the tour. It’s really nice to see everybody’s reaction to the process. It was inspirational to me to see it run.”

Keeping It Local

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Legislators and Cassella family with certificate.

The company outgrew the leased facilities two years ago. We needed to expand and we decided that we would do it in Branford,” Victor Cassella said to rousing applause at Wednesday’s ceremonies. It’s been our home for two generations, and we got our start here and we established close relationships here with everyone you see.”

He thanked the Branford-based contractors and the local and state officials who helped make their dream a reality.

Part of what makes this future possible, and certainly so in our case, is the support and encouragement received from government, especially the Small Business Administration working with Guilford Savings Bank and the Community Investment Corporation,” Cassella said.

Legislators attending the ceremony were State Sen. Ted Kennedy, D- 12th district; State Rep. Lonnie Reed, D‑Branford; and State Rep. Sean Scanlon, D- Branford and Guilford.

Branford isn’t just a great place to live and raise a family it’s a great place to do business,” said Kennedy, who lives in Branford. “ I just love the fact that so many local architects and contractors were part of helping the Cassella family make this facility a reality,” he said. You ship all over the world. So today, Branford is in the center of the world. I’m just so proud to be a part of this adventure.”

Scanlon presented the family with a citation from the state General Assembly and congratulated them on their success.

Not Your Grandfather’s Factory

Diana Stricker Photo

L-R:State Sen. Ted Kennedy, Jr., First Selectman Jamie Cosgrove, State Rep. Lonnie Reed and Victor Cassella.

Reed, pictured above, told the gathering that this factory is part of the new look of manufacturing facilities. These are not your grandfather’s dark, satanic mills. These are gorgeous, sunny, light, computerized, energy efficient facilities. And they’re great places to work, with great salaries and great benefits.“

Reed said the Cassella family will be bringing local students to the site for tours to introduce them to the world of manufacturing.

The list of Branford-based firms involved in the project include Pat Munger Construction, the general contractors; Terry Architecture, who designed the building; Massey Glass; Controlled Air Inc.; and Finelli Electric.

They were great partners in this construction project.,” Cassella said. I believe they incorporated every energy saving device known to man.” He said their work enabled the building to earn energy credit from the state for more than $100,000 in energy grants because of the energy efficiency of the building.

Paul Cassella also thanked the local workforce. We are really grateful to be able to work with so many local companies on this project … We are really happy to keep it local.” He said the cooperative business spirit is important. Branford has so much to offer beyond just the shoreline and being a great place to live, it also has a robust business community that we’re grateful to be a part of.”

David DeMaio, president of Pat Munger Construction, told the Eagle he was very pleased to see the outcome of the project. It’s an exciting design and an exciting building. More importantly, it’s manufacturing.”

During the tour First Selectman Jamie Cosgrove told the Eagle: It’s great to see the Cassella’s dedication to expansion in Branford. Manufacturing is an endeavor that every municipality would like to have.”

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L-R: Victor Casella, Penny Bellamy, Fran Walsh and Unk DaRos.

Also in attendance were Third Selectman Jack Ahern; Terry Elton, the town’s economic development director; Janice Plaziak, town engineer; Unk DaRos, former first selectman; Fran Walsh, former second selectman and former school principal and Penny Bellamy, former town counsel.
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